Getting stronger
by JeanValjean2003
Summary: Isane needs to get stronger and better to help Usane in a more efficient way. No matter what the cost. My first story. Please read and review, but no slashing. Thank you. Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to Bleach. And I neither make any profit with it.
1. Wanting to help

1. Wanting to help

"Oh no, not again", Kotetsu Isane lamented silently, while seeing ten members of the 11th squad being brought inside the care unit of the fourth devision by their fellow shinigami. It had already been a long day with two hollow attacks. Normally shinigami could easily deal with them but this time also menos grande where fighting. In the end 20 shinigami and a huffing Hitsugaya-taicho were injured and brought in for treatment.

It was 8.00pm and the fuku-taicho of the fourth squad was just feeling on edge. She had been working tirelessly alongside Unohana-taicho the past six hours, aiding her to treat all wounded shinigami, and finally finished all the paperwork of the day when Hanataro Yamada entered her office announcing the arrival of the 11th squad members.

"What happend Hanataro-kun?

"Zaraki-taicho ordered an extra training session with his squad and decided to partake in it himself", Hanataro answered.

"Apparently, it was a fight until the last man standing. Naturally Zaraki-taicho won. And now he and the other nine have to be treated for excessive bleeding wounds. Unohana-taicho has asked us to take care of the injured men, while she herself is treating Zaraki."

"I see. Then let's go and get the job done."

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, are you alright? You sound tired. Shall I go alone? I think I can handle these injuries by myself", Yamada said in a worried tone.

While giving his report, he had time to take a closer look at his fuku-taicho. It didn't go unnoticed by him, that she looked exhausted with dark rings under her sunken eyes and that her voice sounded very raspy and tired. He knew very well, what the day had in store for her and the taicho. Yamada himself on the other hand was not so tired, because he just arrived at the squad's unit for his night shift an hour ago.

"No, I am alright. Thank you for asking. We will both take care of the eleventh's, and then I will see, whether or not Unohana-taicho needs my assistance or not. Trust me, you will have plenty to do tonight, even without treating these men alone. The menos grande Hitsugaya-taicho defeated today, showed some very nasty fighting strength, inflicting such severe wounds to the tenth's shinigamis, that we could not allow all of them to return back to their barracks, due to high blood loss and possible infection."

"I understand."

They both went down the halls to the treatment rooms and after another hour all, except Zaraki Kenpachi, were cured and released to their squad. While leaving Hanataro to his duties, Isane went over to the room, she knew her taicho was treading Zaraki in. Even before she opened the door, she could hear their voices arguing.

"I do not need any more treatment, Retsu-san. I am perfectly fine!", Zaraki's deep voiced sounded agitated through the corridor.

"While it is true, that your injuries are not life threatening anymore, you are not fine", the calm but determined voice of Unohana responded.

"You need to stay here for another hour. You suffer from anemia due to the several deep cuts along your chest. And thus you will stay here until the blood infusion is through and your circulation is stable again."

Isane couldn't help but smirke. She just imagined the look on her taicho's face. The calm but dangerous smile, Unohane always saved for the difficult and stubborn patients. Usually, this smile would make everyone turn around and run away, because nobody wanted to be on the fourth's squad leader's bad side. This seemed to hold true for Zaraki Kenpachi as well, because she could only hear Zaraki growl but not another sound of protest. Isane then quitly knocked on the room's door.

"Come in."

Isane entered and bowed her head slightly to her taicho.

"Taicho-sama. We finished healing all injuries from the 11th squad members and sent them home. 7th seat Hanataro is now taking care of the remaining patients from 10th squad. Do you need me for anything else or shall I get started on the last incident's paperwork?"

Unohana smiled hearing her fuku-taicho. No matter how long a day would be, her fuku-taicho would always try to relieve her from some work, in this case the paperwork Zaraki's training session inevitable produced. She always wondered what it was, that made Isane to go to such great length to help her, sometimes even forgetting to take care of herself in the process. Unfortunately, that was something that happened rather a lot lately and Unohana had found herself quite often in a situation, where she had to gently stop Isane from overworking herself and reminding her, that even the most accomplished healer needs sleep to work sufficiently.

"I am mostly done here as well. Thank you Isane."

"Very well. Then I will finish the paper work and see if Hanataro needs some additional help."

"Isane?", her captain's voice suddenly sounded very concerned.

"How long have you been working today?"

Isane was dumb strucked by this question. Why would her taicho suddenly ask this, especially as she already must know the answer?

"Well, it is now 10.00pm and we both started at 7.00am today. So that would make 13 hours", Isane answered reluctantly, feeling suddenly very nervous.

She just remembered a lecture given to her by her taicho about working hours and the necessity of sleep and rest not too long ago. At that time, Isane had worked for almost 15 hourse before succumbing to sleep at her desk. Her taicho had found her the next morning lying in a very uncomfortable position. When Unohana woke her up, she had winced feeling several muscles torn in her neck and back. This had not gone unnoticed by Unohana. In the end, her taicho had eased her pain and sent her to bed, warning her not to make a bad habit out of staying late and overworking herself.

"Isane, I remember telling you two weeks ago, that I do not appreciate it, when my staff is overworking itself. The look on your face just now tells me, so do you. I understand, that today we both could not help to work less due to the attacks and Zaraki-taicho's training results, but now I see no reason why you should continue to exhaust yourself."

"But Unohana-taichcho, I can fini..."

"Isane!"

And there was the scary smile again. Isane gulped hard being on the receiving end of that smile and lowered her head.

"Isane. I want you to go home now and get some rest. Do not worry about the paper work. I will finish it, while waiting for Zaraki-taicho's infusion to drain and to release him. As for Hanataro-kun, I am certain, he will have no trouble looking after the injured you and I have so carefully tended to today."

For a moment Isane was lost for words. Why couldn't she continue to help her taicho? After all, she must be as worn out as she herself. Even more, given that she always has to see to the most difficult patients and the most severe injuries. And nobody expects anything less of Unohana-taicho but perfect work at all times. So why was it, that Isane was not allowed to ease her burden just a little bit by doing some more paperwork?

"Isane? Are you alright?"

Isane suddenly remembered where she was. Looking up she met Unohana-sama's concerned eyes.

"Hai, taicho-sama. I am fine. Just tired, as you said. I will go home now. Good night."

With that she bowed and left the room, still thinking about ways to help her captain in a more efficient way. Because one thing was certain. It was her duty as fuku-taicho to help Unohana-taicho as much as possible. Unohana was the best healer in Seireitei. And Isane's task was to ensure that Unhona could always work a peak efficiency. And if that meant, that she needed to work harder and faster, so be it.

"How can I be of better help? Of course, by learning more and improving me healing skills. From tomorrow on, I will do some research in the main library on healing techniques."

Having made up her mind, Isane finally reached her private quarters and almost instantly fell asleep in her bed.


	2. Library Research

2. Library Research

A soft knocking sound announced Isane's presence at Unohana's office door.

"Come on in Isane."

The fuku-taicho entered very hesitantly and slowly. She had no idea, why her taicho-sama had ordered her into her office during the middle of the day. Normally, she would only be called after difficult cases, if there were mistakes made during treatment or if Unohana had to discuss some ideas for improving her medical team's performance.

But none of these reasons applied to today's situation: there had been no special cases since the menos grande attack three weeks ago. Also, given that squad four had to deal only with the usual injuries, no mistakes were made by herself or reported at all. And lastly, Unhana-taicho had just announced this morning at the monthly staff meeting that she was very pleased with everybody's work performance. So why did Isane had to come to her?

"You wanted to see me, taicho-sama?", Isane bowed her head, standing otherwise very rigid in front of Unohana.

"Yes Isane. There is a matter I need to discuss with you and I thought we could talk about it while having some tea together. "

At these words Isane looked up to her taicho, a fleeting anxious look on her face before she pulled herself together. Unahana Retsu, being one of the most observant shinigami and knowing her fuku-taicho very well, however saw it.

"There is no reason to worry, Isane. No treatment errors have been done and I am very satisfied with your work here at the squad."

Seeing some relief on her assistant's face, Unohana pointed to a low table, where already two cups and a tea can had been prepared. They both took their seats and Isane relaxed slightly. It couldn't such a bad situation. After all, she had always enjoyed drinking a cup of tea with Unohana together. There just hadn't been enough time during the past three weeks, because she had spent literally every free minute in the main library, searching for books to improve her kido healing skills.

When starting her little research project, Isane quickly realized that it would take a lot of time. First of all, there were thousands of books about healing techniques, herbal remedies, human medicine and shinigami medicine and their effective combination. So the question was, where to start? What would help her taicho the most?

It was just yesterday evening that Isane found a very promising book about old kido healing spells. It looked like, when mastered, these spells were not only able to heal up even the most troublesome injuries of a shinigami, but they would do so instantaneous. That would be a great advantage as there were many shinigami in Seireitei, who hated being stuck in the squad's care unit for _no obvious reason_.

"We haven't had tea together for quite a while my dear Isane. Every time I wanted to ask you after work, you were already gone. It almost looks like you are trying to avoid me. And if that is the case I would like to know the reason for it."

Isane was horror-stricken by her taicho-sama's words. How could she think, that she would avoid her on purpose? The only reason, she could not spent so much time with her drinking tea, was, to be of better help in the future und thus spending a lot of time learning. Of course her taicho did not know about her late research activity. And for some reason Isane had decided not to talk about it - not yet. Besides, it never occurred to her, that drinking tea with the fuku-taicho was of such an important matter to Unohana.

"I am sorry to have given such an impression, Unohana-taicho. It was never my intention to avoid you. I was just catching up on some reading about old case files."

That wasn't all lied, but close enough to sound true, Isane thought. Reading about old healing techniques automatically involved reading about old cases. She just hoped, Unohana would believe her and drop this topic.

"Why would you read about old cases?", Unohana asked curiously.

Certainly, there were times when she herself read about old cases, especially when confronted with a very difficult case or at a loss for new ideas. Given that the main library had such files in abundance, she was almost always bound to find a solution for her problem. However, she did not need to do that for several month now, so why did her fuku-taicho find it necessary?

"Well, I thought it would be a good idea. See, we had so many different cases and I learned a lot while watching you. But sometimes I find it hard to remember all the things you showed me. So I thought, I would review the cases. If a similar case turns up, I do not have to ask you about it and you could focus on the more difficult and new cases", Isane responded with an odd smile.

It was true, that in the past she had done exactly that. But that was at the beginning of her time in squad four. Since she became the fuku-taicho, she had never to do that again, because she found herself being a quick study for medical techniques and learned everything Unhana taught her instantly.

"I see. Well Isane, while your intentions and actions are admirable, I also want to remind you to take some time to relax - your body and mind. I noticed over the past weeks, that you look very jaded. Almost like you get only a minimum of sleep and doing nothing else but work."

That was actually nailing the truth. Finding herself overwhelmed with the amount of available literature, Isane had worked out a very tough working schedule for herself. After her shift, she would go straight to the library for five hours. She would have spent more time there, but the library closes after midnight. So then, she would go home and do some more review on her day's discoveries before allowing herself four to five hours of sleep.

She figured, she needed to sleep as much at least. Otherwise Unohana may find out, what she was up to. Or, even worse, she would make a mistake and thus increase her taicho's workload. And now Unohana was on the very verge of finding out about her activities. Isane was sure, that Unohana Retsu would not approve her actions, if finding out what her current work schedule looked like.

Did she really look so tired? True, she hasn't been as energetic as before, but she thought, she was the only one to notice. Then again, one should never underestimate the fourth taicho's observant eyes. Some of Isane's thoughts must have shown themselves on her face, because suddenly her taicho continued with noticeable suspicion in her voice.

"Isane, how many hours have you been sleeping recently? And how much time did you spent relaxing besides that?"

Oh oh, now she was in trouble. Isane couldn't lie straight into Unhana's face. She decided to admit half the truth and hope for the best.

"Well, I find these cases so interesting, that I almost always forget the time. So I guess, I did not get as much sleep during the past days as usual", Isane responded with the most candid looking face she could muster.

"I am sorry, if I worried you. But I swear, I am fine and everything is alright."

Unohana sighed silently at these words. It was obvious, that Isane was not telling the full truth but she did not want to drive her fuku-taicho into a more difficult position right now. So she opted for the second best solution - supporting her in her efforts and thus hopefully diminish some of Isane's exertion.

"That is alright, Isane. So why don't you let me help you?"

"What do you mean, taicho-sama?" This was definitely not good.

"Well, if you are reviewing some of our old cases, who better to review them with than me? We talk about them and you can ask me any questions about them, or even exchange ideas with me on how to improve the treatment even further. Thus we both would gain something out of it."

Isane felt her inside crunch painfully at this suggestion. This was not only not good, this was terrible. She wanted to decrease her taicho's workload, not increase it. Besides, she was convinced, that the knowledge gain out of such conversations would not be mutual. And she certainly did not want to burden her captain with her own incompetence. No way, never! Just, how to tell her that?

"Unohana-taicho, I thank you for your kind offer, but that is not necessary. Besides, you have so much to do, how could I demand even more of your time just for my selfish reasons?" Isane heard herself pleading at this point.

"You do not demand more of my time. Besides, how could I let you work so hard and refuse you any support?"

"But taicho, I ..."

"Isane." And suddenly there was this well reserved and dangerous smile again, indicating that the topic was not up for discussion anymore.

"I really wish to help you in your efforts. I am also aware, that such conversations need to be prepared. So I suggest, that we meet twice a week, say Tuesday and Friday after work for an hour. We will have tee and you can tell me, what cases you are working on and what thoughts you have about it. Does that sound reasonable enough?"

Isane felt that was a question not to be answered by anything but yes.

"Hai Unohana-taicho. Thank you very much for your help. I will make sure to make good use of it." Isane responded in a humble voice, lowering her head once more.

"Very well Isane. Now drink you tea, it's getting cold."

Isane did as told while thinking about solutions to get out of this mess. She certainly did not want to have too many of such "research talks", because that would cost her captain way too much time. But she couldn't tell her captain she had stopped her research too soon, either.

So what was the solution? Well, she would spend every Monday and Thursday evening looking up difficult or new cases. That would usually mean reading files, in which taichos were injured. Given their strength and fighting abilities, such fighting injuries were bound to be very severe and the following treatment quite complicated.

Yes, she would do that for about a month. And then she could tell Unohana, that thanks to her great help, she feels on top of the medical treatment subject again, so that she did not need her help anymore but could continue without her. That sounded like a good plan. That was a great plan!

"Isane, why are you suddenly smiling?"

"I am just enjoying my time here with you, taicho-sama."


	3. Flu season

3. Flu season

Kotetsu Isane really cursed her luck today. What in the world had she done to deserve that?

It was Friday, a very cold and rainy Friday and that meant three things. First, this evening she would meet with Unohana again. Second, more people were sure to come in for flu treatment. Since the beginning of this week, shinigami have constantly shown up with running noses, coughing and scratching inflamed throats. And third, Unohana-taicho and her would be busy until late that night as it has been for the past five days.

So when Isane felt a headache and a sore throat coming up while tending to the 20th patient today, she had to work really hard not to mourn loudly about her current condition. No, she had to stay calm, pretending that everything was alright and in order. Otherwise, Unohana-taicho would send her home and continue working alone. An option, Isane dismissed the moment seeing the masses coming into the squad's care unit. Oh no, she would not let her taicho continue working on her own with all these cranky and grumpy patients.

However, she had to do something about her current state. Otherwise Unohana would find out. Being the fuku-taicho of the medical unit, she knew of course, what to do. So she got to the storage and grabbed some energy pills. After all, even if somebody saw her looting the medical supplies, nobody would dare to question her actions. Nobody but Hanataro Yamada that is.

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, what are you doing here?"

"Hanataro, since when do I have to explain myself to you?", Isane snapped back.

Yamada immediately winced at these harsh words and bowed very low before her. Normally, Isane-san, was very easy going and never cross with him. Even when he got in trouble, she would always be kind to him. The only times she had been grim before were when feeling under the weather.

"I am sorry, fuku-taicho. I was just surprised to see you here. Usually, I am the only one here getting supplies as everyone else seems too busy to make the refills in the treatment rooms."

Hearing his scared voice, Isane instantly regretted her attitude towards Hanataro. After all, he was just caring for everybody and giving his best to be of assistance.

"Hanataro-kun, I did not mean to be harsh. You just startled me. I apologize. About me being here - I saw we ran out on some cough medicine in the main treatment room and thought, I could do the refill. After all, it is not your duty to refill the supplements alone."

While saying that, Isane tried to put on her most gentle smile. Fortunately, Hanataro seemed to believe her, because he nodded his head, took what he needed and left the room. Isane sighed when he left the room, took one energy pill and returned to her 21th patient of the day, being completely unaware that Hanataro never believed her.

The seventh seat was lost in thought and totally unaware of his surroundings, while on his way back to the main treatment room. He could not believe what just happened and was very worried for Kotetsu-san. Only when he bumped into another shinigami, he was pulled back into reality.

"Careful, Yamada-kun. Otherwise you get hurt."

"Unohana-taicho! I am very sorry. I did not look, where I was going. Did I hurt you?", Hanataro asked in his usual panicked voiced, whenever something seemed amiss.

"No, you did not hurt me. Though you might want to tell me, what is going on in your mind. You seem to be very worried."

Yamada was not quite sure, how to respond to that. Should he really share his suspicion of the fuku-taicho being sick with Unohana-sama? After all, he was sure, Isane-san wouldn't appreciate that at all. On the other hand, she really looked ill, and if he was right, nobody was better to get her to rest than the taicho. Making up his mind, he looked up to Unohana and responded in a very controlled and serious tone:

"I am worried about Isane-fuku-taicho, Unohana-sama. She seems to be ill."

Unohana's eyebrows narrowed at his words. Even though, she had helped Isane with her studies for the past six weeks, she had had her suspicions, that Isane still did not get enough rest. On the contrary, she even seemed to sleep less and work more. And now Hanataro was confirming her surmise.

"What makes you think, that she is sick?"

"Well, there are several signs. First of all, she has been looking very tired for the past month or so, as if constantly being stressed out. Then today I met her in the storage. She was very pale and her voice sounded really rough. And when I asked her, what she was doing there, she lied to me."

"She lied to you?"

That piece of information was indeed unusual. Isane was a person, who preferred sticking to the truth and would only lie when desperate. Then again, this seems also to have changed over the past several weeks, Unohana reminded herself.

"Yes. She told me, the supplies in the main treatment room were empty and she wanted to refill them. Only, I had refilled them an hour before and she had completely different medical pills in her hand than those used in the treatment room."

"Which kind of medication, do you think, she took?"

"I believe, she took some energy pills. Those, that restore your spiritual energy for another 24 hours."

"I see. Thank you, Hanataro-kun for bringing that matter to my attention. I will take care of it as soon as possible. Now please return to your work and do not worry anymore about it", Unahana told Yamada and gave him a genuine smile.

Seeing the seventh seat leave, Unohana returned to her office, thinking about the information, she just got. Isane was not feeling well, yet she refused to seek help. Neither from her not from any other medical shinigami in her squad. Instead she tried to hide it from everybody. But why?

And what was it, that kept her fuku-taicho from sleeping? It had been almost ten weeks ago, that she had to send her to bed the last time. It was the day of the menos grande attacks and Zaraki's special training session. Another three weeks later, Isane admitted to studying in her free time some old cases.

Unohana knew, that back then Isane did not tell the full story, but went along with it anyway and offered her help. So for the past six weeks, they both came together for tea twice a week, discussing Isane's findings and thoughts. And as expected, Isane had always been well prepared and they both had learned something new out of their fruitful conversations every time.

Nevertheless, Isane always looked worn out at their meetings. When asked about it, she denied that anything was wrong and refused to let Unohana take a closer look at her. She would always find some excuses for her looks, like she had to do some additional paperwork, or some other shinigami asked her for help and thus she had to stay up late. Again, Unohana knew these were rather lies, but still being unsure about what was going on in Isane's mind, she let her have her will and did not order an examination.

Now however, seeing that Isane was putting her health to risk on purpose, the situation had changed. Unohana was determined to put an end to this destructive behavior of her fuku-taicho right now.

Leaving the office and searching for her fuku-taicho, she found Isane in one of the smaller treatment rooms. Isane was just talking to a seated officer of the 8th devision, when Unohana entered the room.

"Please, take these pills twice a day and rest for the next days. This way, you should get rid of that cold. If you are not feeling better in three days time, please return here."

"Hai, Kotetsu-fuku-taicho. Thank you." The officer bowed and was about to leave the room when seeing Unohana.

"Good day, Unohana-taicho", the young shinigami greeted, bowing his head before leaving the room.

Unohana just nodded and smiled at him. Isane on the other hand, who so far had her back turned to the door, immediately spun around in surprise. What was Unohana-taicho doing here? Suddenly she felt a very oppressive feeling in her stomach, seeing the expression on her superior's face - somehow it looked like a mix of anger and worry. She gulped very hard before smiling weakly.

"Taicho-sama, what can I do for you? Do you need my assistance with another patient?"

"No Isane, but there is an urgend matter I have to discuss with you right now. Please follow me", Unohana responded in such a strict tone that Isane did not even try to protest.

"Hai, Unohana-taicho."


	4. Calm before the storm

4. Calm before the storm

Isane followed her taicho silently, thoughts spinning in her mind. What was going on? Why did Unohana-sama demand to talk to her right now, when there were so many patients that needed their attention?

It couldn't have anything to do with her sleeping habits. After all, Unohana had asked her several times during their scientific discussions, whether everything was alright and Isane had always managed to convince her superior, that everything was indeed. Besides, this alone would not justify keeping them both from tending to their patients.

It neither could have anything to do with their tea meetings as well. First of all, there would be one tonight - so no need to rush. Second, after realizing that Unohana was very serious about these talks, Isane had put in every possible effort to make them a success for both of them. Meaning, she had reduced her maximum sleeping hours from five to four every night, in order to manage the extra workload besides reading about the old kido spells, she had found a couple of weeks ago.

Of course, that also meant, that her plan of getting out of these talks after a month time went down the drain. How could she have convinced her taicho, that she had gained enough knowledge out of their conversations, when she indeed had a thousand new questions coming up every time a meeting came to an end? On the one hand, Isane was very impressed by the knowledge and skills of Unohana-taicho - as always. On the other hand, she then felt even more inapt to help her in a sufficing manner, being made aware of the big gab in knowledge every single time.

So what was it, that Unohana wanted to talk about? It was really confusing. After all, she could not know about Isane beginning to have any flu symptoms. No, that was impossible. They just started to show up this morning and neither a sore throat nor a headache are clearly visible symptoms. And, thanks to the energy pill, she took an hour ago, Isane looked fresh like an early morning in spring right now.

Indubitably, Unohana did not know anything about her being on drugs. Otherwise that would totally explain her behavior. Or did she? At that moment it hit Isane with full force. Hanataro Yamada had seen her in the storage holding on the energy pills in her hand! Was it possible, that he did not believe her story of necessary refills after all? Yes, seeing that it was usually him in charge of these matters. Though, why would he bring such a comparatively small matter to taicho-sama's attention right away? That did not make any sense in Isane's eyes at all, leaving her in a confused and frustrated state, while following Unohana.

Suddenly Unohana came to a halt. Looking around Isane realized where they had been heading - right to Unohana-taicho's main office. Unohana opened the door and stepping aside, let Isane enter first. Reluctantly the fuku-taicho did, still feeling at a lost, what the whole situation was about.

While passing her, Unohana scrutinized her assistant. She did not like at all, what she was seeing. Isane's steps were shaky, almost like walking on ice, her shoulders were bended -all in all she was rather slouching than going. Her brow was coated with a fine film of sweat. And her eyes were frantically moving around, as if in fear of something, while missing the bright light that usually dwelled within them.

A stranger might have thought, Kotetsu Isane must be in perfect shape. Unohana was only able to see those signs, because she knew her Isane so well. And because she knew, that her fuku-taicho had taken a very powerful energy pill, thus concealing any indications for tiredness and stress. For a short moment Unohana's face was marked by sorrow. However, she could not let Isane see her worries so discernibly. She sighed inwardly, closed the door and walked over to her desk.

"Isane, please take a seat."

"Hai, taicho-sama."

Both woman took their respective places, feeling the tension in the air. While Unohana made every effort to take a good look into Isane's face, the fuku-taicho did everything to prevent that. After a minute of this silent battle, Unohana asked in a very calm voice:

"Isane, do you know, why I have brought you here?"

"No, Unohana-taicho. I do not. As far as I know, everything is in order. There are no problems with treating the patients, every member of your staff works at peak proficiency, we have enough medical supplies and there have been no complains made by the other squads", Isana answered in a serious tone.

She really did not know, why she was here. She was just getting the feeling, that something was awfully off and that something terrible was about to happen. Her insides had tightened painfully together, her head was throbbing, chills were running over her skin and Isane had a very hard time fighting the urge to simply run out of the room. Only the knowledge of her taicho not allowing such behavior kept her from doing so. Thus, biting her lips, she waited impatiently for what Unhana had to say.

Unohana saw that Isane was feeling very indisposed, wondering what is was, that made the fuku-taicho feel that way. Usually, Isane felt quite secure in her presence. Not today though. She decided not to confront Isane right from the start, hoping that her assistant would be more forthcoming during this conversation.

"True Isane, I did not bring you here, because of any negative reports. Thanks to your hard work, there haven't been any complains for the last six month and all shinigami of this squad are constantly improving their skills", Unohana responded, sounding very proud at this point.

Isane couldn't help, but blush a little at these words. Getting praise from her taicho was not something very common. Besides, it was not deserved. Unohana was the one, making suggestion about improving the squad's work. Isane was just supervising the implementations of those. Not more.

"Actually, I wondered how you have been doing lately. Have there been any problems, you have not talked to me about?"

Something in Unohana's tone made Isane very suspicious. Her voice was calm and collected, as always. But there was something lingering, almost as if she knew something and would not accept anything but the full and only truth. Isane visibly shivered at this thought. There was no way in hell, she would tell her taicho about her beginning cold or her lack of sleep. There was too much work to do and she could not afford to be send to bed.

"No, Unohana-sama. Everything is fine", Isane answered while trying to look unconcerned about her taicho's sudden interest in her.

"Isane, I noticed over the past ten weeks, that you looked constantly very tired and exhausted. Yet today, you look bright and full of energy - please explain, how that is possible."

"Well taicho, that can happen when getting a full night's sleep!", Isane replied with a big fake smile.

"So that is it? You just got enough rest last night, to make up for the constant lack of sleep over the past two month?"

Isane knew it. She just knew, there had to be a catch in her taicho's question and now she was trapped. She had to think quickly to get out of this situation without raising anymore suspicion, she saw reflecting in Unohana-sama's face. A task, she found tremendously difficult, with her aching head and shivering like a leaf.

Isane, you have to calm down, she thought for herself while trying to slow down her increased breathing, which, she had not realized before, had picked up in tempo significantly at her taicho's last question. Taking one last deep breath, she looked Unohana straight into the eye.

"No, of course not Unohana-taicho. Even though, I slept very well last night, I felt slightly exhausted after my 20th patient today. So I decided to take an energy pill."

"Why did you not simply come to me and ask for a break? I certainly would have given it to you."

"Yes, I know. Just, there were so many patients that needed both our attentions, that I thought it best to continue working and not to disturb you", Isane responded truthfully for a change.

"You know, you could never disturb me, don't you Isane?"

Actually, Isane had heard that sentence before from her taicho. She just never believed it to be true. Of course she could disturb her. For example, asking her for a little break, while Unohana had to see after more important patients.

"Yes, of course I do."

At this point, Isane decided to become a little daring. She had to get out of this situation. Now!

"Taicho-sama, I apologize for taking some medication without consulting you first. I did not think of it as such a big deal. I am sorry. Nonetheless, there are many patients still waiting for us outside. May I suggest, that we both return to them? Otherwise I am afraid, we cannot finish our work early enough to sit down this evening together for a cup of tea, discussion another case file."

While saying these words, Isane positively beamed at her taicho. She was confident she had just done the trick to convince her to end this conversation here and now. Undeniably, there was much more important work waiting outside. And at the same time she had assured her taicho, that she would not run away but return this evening, just in case there was still a pressing matter to discuss.

"You are right, Isane. There are many patients right now within these walls, who need to be taken care of. And one is just sitting right in front of me", Unohana affirmed.

At these words, Isane's eyes went wide in shock and her face paled. This was not good. How did the situation get so out of her hands?


	5. Being a patient

5. Being a patient

"T- T- Taicho-sama? What do you mean?", Isane stuttered.

She seriously wished there would have been another person beside her, Unohana-sama could have referred to as a patient. Just not her.

"I am perfectly fine. Really!"

"Is that so? Then Isane, please explain to me your symptoms, if they are not due to illness!", Unohana demanded to know.

Now Isane was at a complete loss. She had rarely seen her taicho so stern, serious and scary at the same time. Coming to think of it - she had never seen Unohana-sama this way. Even in the gravest of situations, she would always be calm, composed and kind. Right now, she looked rather like a dragon waiting for its pray to move within reach. And what symptoms was she talking about? It was impossible for her to know about the headache and the sore throat. Both are not visible symptoms and the later was not audible, yet.

"My symptoms, taicho-sama? There are no symptoms to talk about."

"Is that so? Well, then let me rephrase my question, my dear Isane. What causes a person to shiver and to sweat at the same time, while sitting in a well heated room? And what causes that person to be as pale as a ghost?"

"Fear."

That word escaped way to fast out of Isane's mouth. She did not intend to speak that thought aloud. Seeing the surprise on Unohana's face and being shocked of having possibly suggested to be afraid of her own taicho - the very person she admired most - Isane immediately sank down on her hands and knees, putting her forehead down on the wooden floor. She did not dare to look up at Unohana.

"I am very sorry, Unohana-taicho-sama. What I meant to say was, one possible explanation could be, that this person is scared of something. Another possibility could be a rising body temperature, which may indicate an illness", Isane answered with an unsteady and nervous voice.

Seeing her fuku-taicho in so much distress, kneeling down on the floor, her voice whimpering and trembling, Unohana instantly got to Isane's side, padding her on the back, speaking very softly.

"Isane? Isane, please look at me."

Slowly, Isane rose her head. However, she did not dare to look into her taicho's eyes. Right now, she wanted nothing more but to hide in the deepest hole available, feeling so ashamed of herself. Given, that unfortunately no hole was available right now, she instead tried to put some space between Unohana and herself.

"No Isane, please look at me!", Unohana said, gently holding Isane's right arm with a firm hand.

Slowly Isane lifted her head and faced her taicho.

"I apologize taicho-sama. I don't know, what got into me. Maybe I am really just a little stressed out from this week's work", Isane tried to explain, taking a very deep breath to keep her voice steady and calm.

"Isane, I am very concerned about you. Now, please tell me, did I give you any reason to fear me?"

"No, of course not!", the young fuku-taicho exclaimed, pulling out of her taicho's grasp, finally being able to put some distance between them. Still facing her taicho though, she felt the need to elaborate.

"Unohana-sama, you never gave me a reason to fear you. You are the most accomplished healer I know and I only wish to be useful in providing you assistance."

Relieved, that her fuku-taicho was back up on her feet on her own, Unohana got up herself. There was still the pressing matter of Isane's symptoms and what had caused them.

"I am glad to hear that, Isane. However, that also leaves us with the only other explanation for your symptoms. You said yourself, only fear or a fever normally causes them. As you do not fear me, you must have a fever."

At that point, it occurred to the fuku-taicho, that Unohana-sama may be right. Looking back, she had been shivering since her taicho escorted her into this office. And while she truly did not want to let Unohana know about her secret research, she did not fear her. Not in a way, that would cause such physical symptoms anyway. Closing her eyes for a short moment, she felt the chill on her skin, the perspiration on her brow as well as the pain in her head and throat. Giving in on her fate, she opened her eyes again and bowed her head slightly.

"Maybe you are right, Unohana-taicho. I may got the flu as well. In that case, I ask you to relieve me of my duty for the rest of the day, so that I can go home and take care of myself."

Isane was silently praying that Unohana would grand her wishes. Becoming sick was one thing. That can happen from time to time. Considering however, how much of the taicho's time has been already wasted due to her stupid mistake and this cold, Isane was determined not to spend anymore of her taicho's precious time. After all, her Unohana was supposed to take care of sick patients, and not of her fuku-taicho!

"I am relieving you from your duties, effective immediately. Apart from that, I cannot allow you to simply go home."

"Taicho, I am perfectly capable to take care of mys ..."

"Isane!"

And here was the scary smile again. Why did Isane get the feeling, that her taicho had just developed a new scary smile just for her, seeing how often she had received it lately?

"Given that you have failed to recognize your symptoms as such, I am not convinced that it is a good idea to let you be on your own. Besides, now that you have finally admitted that something is wrong with you, I insist on examining you thoroughly."

If the pain in her head hadn't spiked up just a moment before, Isane would have felt very annoyed by her taicho's persistence. Seriously, she was the fuku-taicho of the medical squad, she was perfectly capable of taking care of such a small thing as this flu by herself. She did not need her taicho fussing over her. However, the pain was there and so Isane nodded her head slightly in agreement and allowed to be led to the adjacent treatment room. Usually, this room was reserved for taichos only, but the fuku-taicho had the feeling that her protests would be in vain.

Entering the room, Unohana motioned Isane to take a seat on the examination couch while she herself went over to a drawer taking out a note pad.

"Now Isane, are there any other symptoms besides your fever and paleness?"

Realizing, that there would be no way in hell, that her taicho would not find out, Isane sighed audibly before admitting the whole truth to Unohana-sama in a neutral and steady tone.

"Yes. I also have a headache and a sore throat since this morning, taicho-sama."

"Anything else?"

"No, not that I am aware of."

"Alright, let me take a look at you then."

The next minutes just felt endlessly to Isane. She also felt very ashamed and humiliated. Not because she had got the flu, but because she, the supposedly second best healer in Seireitei, had failed to recognize simple flu symptoms and had now to be taken care of by her taicho. Besides, she just realized, she hated to be sick and being a patient. Really.

Unohana, not willing to take a chance of overseeing any symptoms her fuku-taicho might be suffering of, decided to do this examination very systematically, from head to toe so to speak. She started by feeling Isane's forehead and summoned some of her reiatsu in her hand to determine the exact temperature.

"You have quite a fever, Isane. It is about 39.7 Celsius (103.5 Fahrenheit). You must be feeling awful."

Yes, she was. Just not for the reason her taicho was thinking of, Isane thought miserably. After that Unohana took a look at her ears, eyes, throat and tonsils before asking Isane to take a couple of deep breaths. While Isane did what she was asked, Unohana silently conjured a kido healing spell into her hands, while moving them over her fuku-taicho's chest and back. Doing so, Unohana became aware that she was just in time to prevent this infection from spreading into Isane's lungs.

Finishing the examination, Unohana was convinced of not having missed anything. Thus, there was just one more mystery to solve - the reason for Isane's constant lack of sleep. Of course right now, the signs of insomnia were not visible due to the energy pill, her assistant had taken earlier. They would return soon enough and more severe the moment the pill's effect would wear off. Thus Unohana decided not to investigate this matter any further at the moment. Before that, she needed to make sure, Isane got the rest she needed so much.

"Well Isane, you really have the flu. If you rest enough and take it easy for a couple of days, I am sure, the flu will pass by soon."

"Thank you taicho for your efforts. It is good to hear, that there is nothing else wrong with me. Can I go home now?", Isane asked in a very hopeful tone.

She really wanted to get of there, coil up in her own bed and return to her work as soon as possible. And thus making sure, not to be a bother to her taicho anymore. A big bonus in her eyes.

"No Isane. I will have a room prepared for you here. This way I can make sure you get the rest you need and can constantly monitor your condition."

"Unohana-taicho. That is really not necessary!", Isane exclaimed, horror again showing up in her face.

The thought of being stuck here for several days was bad enough. But having Unohana personally seeing after her was just beyond horrible. What was suddenly up with her taicho anyway, that she would take so much interest into her? Unohana was supposed to look after other people, mainly patients, and Isane's job was to assist her in that matter. No more, no less. There was nowhere written in her job description, that in case of sickness the taicho had to treat and tend to her personally.

"Yes Isane, it is", the taicho responded calmly in a tone that left no room for arguments.


	6. The white bedroom

6. The white bedroom

Well, at least she would not get bored during her forced stay within the squad's care unit, Kotetsu Isane thought while following her captain out of the treatment room back into the hall. Pretty much every single bed room was occupied, except the ones reserved for taichos. And as the flu was just going around, the double and triple bed rooms where occupied as well, though there were still some empty beds.

The fuku-taicho hoped to get into a triple bed room for several reasons. First, this way she could take care of at least two other patients and thus help the squad and her taicho. Second, this way she would not get bored and time would pass by more quickly. Third, assuming the other patients in her room where more in need of help because of their sickness and/or more whiny, she herself would look comparatively healthy and thus would draw less attention to herself.

"Hanataro Yamada-kun, is there an empty single bed room right now?", Unohana asked her seventh seat officer, who was just passing by.

"All but the taichos' rooms are taken right now, Unohana-taicho. Why? Are there any news of another heavy injured shinigami, who is being brought in right now?", Yamada asked in his usual anxious voice.

"No, not at all. I just want our fuku-taicho to have a room on her own, so that she will get the peace and quiet she needs right now."

The reaction of Isane and Yamada at these words could not have been more contrary. While the small officer's face lit up in a bright smile, understanding that Unohana-taicho is taking care of his fuku-taicho, Isane's body became rigid while gasping at her taicho's words. Looking at the whole situation, it hardly couldn't get any worse for her, could it?

First, she had to admit being sick, second, she was forced to stay in her taicho's care and now Unohana tried to put her in a single bed room, so that she could give Isane her full attention every time she would be tending to her? Besides losing all the other advantages of a triple bed room? Oh no, no, no. The fuku-taicho was not going to give up on this matter so easily. No way.

"Taicho-sama, I appreciate your good intentions and I am truly grateful for them. But I see no reason, why I should be treated in a different way than any other patient with the flu being here right now", Isane tried to explain.

"Well Isane, I do. And my opinion is the one, that matters", Unohana smiled back at her fuku-taicho.

Isane felt like something was crunching on her insides again. Yet, she was determined not to give up so easily on this fight. She gritted her teeth before saying:

"Be that as it may Unohana-taicho, but there isn't a regular single bed room available right now. And as I am not a taicho, I simply refuse to stay in one of their rooms."

"Don't worry Isane. I am not going to force you to break the rules by staying in a taicho's treatment room. So there is no reason to get so tensed up", Unohana tried to calm down her fuku-taicho.

At her words, Isane was indeed slightly relaxing again. Good, at least something was going her way.

"Yamada-kun, please take the fuku-taicho to the white bedroom and see to it, that she will have everything, she needs and wants to get as comfortable as possible there."

"Hai, taicho-same. Fuku-taicho, please follow me."

Isane however, did not comply. She just kept standing still, frozen to the spot. This was so not happening. It could not be. Didn't she just convince herself, that her predicament could not get any worse? Until now, she thought it was bad enough, that Unohana would most likely drop by several times a day, monitoring her condition. The white bedroom however meant, that her taicho would be able to easily look after her day and night.

This particular bedroom was equipped like one saved for taichos. What made it so special was its location. This room was right besides Unohana's private quarters and just a little apart from her office. It was called the white bedroom, because it was hardly ever used, thus it was always clean. Isane couldn't even recall the last time, it had been used.

It was also very quiet, because no other treatment rooms were close by. Unfortunately for Isane, this room was not far away enough from the squad's main care unit, so that the way over there could be considered an inconvenience for any healer. When it was built, Unohana saw to it, that a special passage way was constructed as well, making it possible to reach that room within three minutes.

"Isane, please go with Hanataro-kun", Unohana's soft voice reached Isane's ears, forcing her out of her thoughts.

Being brought back so suddenly into reality, Isane lost her footing for a second, stumbled into a fellow shinigami, who was just on his way to another patient, and finally fell on her backside.

"Isane, did anything got hurt?", Unohana and Yamada asked, equally worried.

Besides her pride?

"No. I didn't get hurt. Unohana-sama! Taicho-sama! That is really too much. I do not need so much attention. I will be fine in a normal bed room. Really. There is no need for you..." Isane started to ramble, when suddenly she found herself being pushed down on the floor by an invisible force, unable to make another sound.

Seeing her fuku-taicho mustering all available energy to protest against her orders, Unohana Retsu had quickly released some of her reiatsu. As her fuku-taicho was already weakened, it did not take much, which was the reason Hanataro was still able to stand, though he was feeling it too. Unohana got down beside her assistant, placing a hand under Isane's chin so that she could lift up her head more easily. Looking straight into her fuku-taicho's face, she commanded in a collected, austere voice:

"Isane, either you will go with Hanataro-kun right now and let him take care of you until I have prepared your medicine, or you continue your disobedience and I will have you carried over there and put to bed by your subordinates. Which way do you prefer?"

None of the above, Isane was honestly answering in her mind. However, the thought of being carried over to the white bedroom by several of her fellow shinigami was ingenuously mortifying. Finding herself able to move and speak again, the fuku-taicho slowly got back up on her feet. Being painfully aware of her taicho following her every single movement, Isane turned to Hanataro Yamada, signaling him to lead the way.

Watching both her officers being on their way, Unohana wondered what just happened. Usually, her fuku-taicho would never disobey her, especially not in front of others. And just why was she fighting so hard against her? After all, she was sick and Unohana simply wanted to do everything to make her well again as soon and as quick as possible. Couldn't Isane see that? Was there something else going on, her assistant did not want to talk about? And if that was the case, what could it be?

Without any doubt, Unohana wanted a lot of questions being answered by her fuku-taicho. Just right now, she had to force this desire into the back of her mind. Apart from the many patients, that were right now in her staff's care, demanding more or less her attention, she now also had to prepare Isane's medication and treatment schedule.

She was determined though, to find out, what was going on in her fuku-taicho's mind at some point in the near future. Even if that meant, observing her day and night. Her Isane, was just too important for this squad and to herself, than to allow her go to waste. Having come to this resolution, Unohana turned to the next treatment room and got back to work.


	7. Bed rest

7. Bed rest

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Kotetsu-fuku-taicho?"

"No, thank you Hanataro-kun. I have everything I need", Isane responded in a slight sarcastic tone.

Apparently, Yamada heard that something was amiss with his fuku-taicho, but he didn't get the right message.

"Are you sure? You know, I would be happy to get you anything else", he told Isane smiling at her.

"No, just leave me alone!", she yelled back at him.

Being completely taken by surprise, Yamada stumbled over his own feet and crashed onto his face. Holding his now bleeding nose, he hurriedly left the room, mumbling something that sounded like "Soohry, I'm guhing".

Isane watched him leave silently. If she wouldn't have felt so miserable for herself, moaning about her situation, she would have felt sorry for Yamada and apologized for her harsh tone. Normally. Instead, she was genuinely thankful for being finally alone.

After Hanataro and Isane had reached the white bedroom, the young boy had begun immediately to check, that everything was in order, while Isane had changed into some available sleeping attire behind a wooden screen before laying down on the bed.

Seeing his superior finally taking some rest, Hanataro Yamada unfortunately decided that very moment to take extra special care of his fuku-taicho.

"Hm, you seem to have a fever. I will get you a cold cloth for your head."

"No, that is not necess...", Isane tried to stop him, but he had already gone to the sink at the opposite wall, to get everything he needed.

"You might also get thirsty, so I will get you a nice cold drink. Or maybe a warm tea would be better? Never mind - I'll get you both."

And again he dashed off, before Isane could state her protest, and was back within the blink of an eye. If Isane hadn't been already annoyed by all the unnecessary actions of her taicho-sama towards her, she certainly would have been now. Completely unaware of her feelings, Yamada however, was not done yet.

"Oh, and you will need another blanket and pillow. The standard ones are really not comfortable."

And he run off again. Frustrated at her inability to stop the energetic man, Isane let her head sink deep into the perfectly fine pillow and closed her eyes. Keeping her composure at this level was quite challenging for her. Only the hope, that at some point Yamada must run out of options of what else to get her, kept her from grabbing him by the shoulders, yelling into his face to please leave her alone.

So when he finally asked her, if she needed anything else and did not leave immediately after her negation, Isane lost for a moment her self control and scared him out of the room. Having achieved something at last, she now faced a new problem. What to do next?

She could not leave this room. Unohana-taicho would drag her back into bed at once and seal her to it with some restraining kido spell. She had nothing to occupy her mind with - no paperwork, no books, no interesting cases to think about - nothing. And she could not sleep. The energy pill would work for another 20 hours at least, thus keeping her wide awake. Seeing no other option, she decided to meditate. Maybe then a useful idea would come up in her mind. Sadly, she could not talk to her Zanpakuto Itegumo at that moment. She had left it in her office as always. Itegumo had no healing qualities, so she did not carry it around while working within the care unit.

Meanwhile, Unohana was just finishing some flu and sleeping medicine for Isane in the pharmacy room, when suddenly her seventh seat came sprinting into the room. Apparently unaware of her presence he headed straight for the drawer which contained bandages and ointments for bleedings. Taking a closer look at him, Unohana saw that his nose was heavily bleeding.

"Hanataro-kun, what happened to your face?"

Scared to death, Yamada yelped and dropped some ointment on the floor. Taking a second to catch his breath again, he turned to face his taicho.

"Sorry taicho. I did not see you. I'll use another room", he answered nervously while already heading out of the room again.

"I did not ask you to leave, Hanataro. I want to know, what has happened to you", Unohana answered in her usual kind but stern manner.

"Hai, Unohana-taicho. Well, nothing really happened."

"You are bleeding."

"Yes, but only because I lost my footing and fell right on my face."

"And what made you fall?", Unohana asked, now slightly impatient with her officer.

"Nothing. Really. It was just my usual clumsiness", Yamada replied while paying suddenly a lot of attention to his own feet.

Hearing that Unohana sighed, but remained otherwise very calm. What was it lately with her officers, lying straight into her face? First Isane and now Hanataro. Was she possibly losing her subordinate's respect or even worse, their trust? One way or another, she had to put a stop to that. Stepping right in front of him, she lifted his chin to get a better look at his nose. Seeing, that not much damage was done, she summoned some healing kido and stopped the bleeding.

After being done, Hanataro bowed before her: "Thank you very much, taicho".

"No problem, Hanataro-kun. Now please explain to me, why you just lied to me. You did not just trip. What has my fuku-taicho done?"

Yamada, fully aware of being caught in the act, turned his eyes to the floor again.

"She threw me out", came the barely audible answer.

"And can you imagine, why she has done that?"

Looking up again into his taicho's face, Yamada tried to recollect everything that happened in the white bedroom.

"Well, after we got to the room, I saw to it, that everything was alright. And when Kotetsu-fuku-taicho was finally in bed, I got her everything she might need - just as you ordered. After that I asked her, whether she needed anything else. She said no, but I had the feeling, she wanted something. So I asked again. And at that moment she snapped at me and threw me out. I was so surprised by her reaction, that I tripped and fell on my face."

While listening to his story, Unohana frowned. For her fuku-taicho to lose her temper so quickly was very odd. It could only mean, that she really must feel terrible at the moment and that she was more exhausted than Unohana first assumed. However, she saw no need to share these thoughts with Hanataro. Thus, her usual kind smile returned on her face, while addressing her officer once more.

"Thank you for telling me the truth now, Hanataro-kun. However, to prevent you from making lying to me a habit, you will clean the eleventh's squad rooms for the next two weeks, in addition to your normal duties. Is that understood?"

Gulping hard, Hanataro nodded his understanding. Then he left silently the room, feeling very embarrassed and ashamed of himself. Being satisfied with his reaction, Unohana took the prepared medicine and went over to the white bedroom. She did not expect to find Isane sleeping - the energy pill would keep her from doing so. So, she was not surprised, when instead she found her fuku-taicho sitting in bed, meditating.

"Isane?", Unohana softly called.

Startled at hearing suddenly her taicho's voice, Isane quickly opened her eyes. Right in front of her stood Unohana, holding a phial in her hand. She hadn't even heard her coming in. How long had she been standing there? Isane must have really been lost in thought for the past hour - unfortunately without getting any new ideas on what to do in this place while sleeping was not an available option. Having nothing to say, she just looked at her taicho expectantly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, now that I got some rest."

Isane smirked at these words. Actually, she felt worse. The pain in her head and throat had increased and she felt restless. Of course, she wouldn't tell Unohana any of that.

"You do, just after one hour of meditation?"

"Yes, you know that I normally don't need much time to recover", Isane responded confidently to her taicho.

"Alright, then let me check, whether your symptoms have already subsided."

And again, all of Isane's pretended confidence crumbled to dust within a second. She had no choice but to endure her taicho's examination again. Would it always be that way, every time she said, she was feeling better? She truly hoped, that it would not be the case. However, she had an odd feeling, that Unohana would do exactly that: checking Isane's condition every time she reported a change - be it for the better or the worse.

What the fuku-taicho could not understand was, why her taicho did go to such great length for her. She was no important person in Seireitei, she was not suffering from a severe illness or injury, she was not a taicho and, most important of all, she did not ask for any of this! So why did Unohana-sama pay her so much unnecessary attention?

"Well, that is strange. Your fever has gone up, the inflammation inside your throat increased and the look on your face tells me, so did your headache. Are you sure, you are feeling better, Isane-fuku-taicho?", Unohana asked with a very strange expression on her face - somehow it looked like a mixture of anger, amusement, worry and kindness.

Becoming very self-conscious, Isane stared down on her hands. It was very hard to admit, but of course she had to fail lying to her taicho about her current condition. Unohana Retsu was not considered the best healer in Seireitei for nothing. Giving in, she slightly shook her head.

"I am sorry taicho-sama. It's just - I do not want you to make such a fuss about me. I can take care of myself. I am your fuku-taicho after all. And it is just the flu, nothing serious", Isane tried to explain herself.

"Isane, I do not know, why you do not want me to help you. You of all people are aware of my skills and you know that I only have your best interests at heart."

"Yes, that is exactly, why I do not want you to waste your time on me! You are the most accomplished healer I know, there are dozens of patients truly in need of your help and time, while I am not so important and I can take care of myself! So please, let me alone and take care of other people!", Isane was now actually yelling at her taicho.

For a short moment taken aback, Unohana waited for the fuku-taicho to calm down again before she spoke to her again in the most kind and serene voice.

"No, Isane. I will not leave you alone while you are in such distress. You are a fuku-taicho. My fuku-taicho. You are important to the people in Soul Society and to me. And right now, you are ill and deserve nothing less than my full attention. And I will take care of you until you have fully recovered."

Before Isane could retort anything, Unohana continued.

"Now, as for you being able to look after yourself, you have shown poor judgment so far. In addition to that you have been lying to me several times, not only today but also over the past weeks. Therefore I have no reason to trust you right now on anything concerning yourself, especially in regard to your health and your sleep. So until you decide to be more forthcoming and trust me again with nothing but the truth, you will stay here in my care. Is that understood, Isane?"

At these words, Isane's eyes had widened in shock. The tone in her taicho-sama's voice horrified her to no end. And so did the content of her little speech. Whatever her benign intentions behind her secret learning sessions were, Isane never wanted to upset her captain. Surely, Unohana-taicho knew, how much Isane trusted her, didn't she?

She just didn't feel ready to tell her the full story yet. She couldn't put her finger on it either, why she felt this way. Maybe she just wanted to have something significantly accomplished before telling Unohana about it? Yeah, that might be it. As soon as she has something noteworthy, she decided, she would tell her taicho about it. And then her secrecy would surely be forgiven.

Having come to this conclusion, Isane realized that there was nothing she could do right now, to improve the situation and make her taicho feel better. While it hurt of having lost her trust for the moment, she would not waste Unohana's time by telling her about her research project. Not yet.

Regarding her health - well, she could be a nice and cooperative patient and tell Unohana the truth about her flu symptoms. After all, she couldn't really hide her condition from her anyway and this way the healing process might speed up. Which meant, she could return back to her work sooner and help her taicho again. Having made up her mind, Isane straightened her face and responded in all earnestness.

"Hai, taicho-sama. I understand. Seriously, I assure you, I trust you with my life, I always did. And I promise, from now on, I will tell the truth about my flu symptoms."

Well, not the outcome Unohana had hoped for, but at least, it was a start. It did not go unnoticed, that Isane didn't say anything about her other lies or had tried to explain her recent strange behavior.

"Very well, Isane. I really do not appreciate it, when my staff is lying to me. Frankly I find it disrespectful and I kindly remind you, that having been your taicho for many years, I always know when you are not telling the truth. And if you decide to continue worrying me this way with your behavior, I will draw all consequences I deem fit. I rather like not to do that, because you are inestimable to me. Please, do not forget that", Unohana said, displaying a fleeting sad expression.

Seeing this, Isane felt really bad. For a moment, she even opted to spill the whole story, but then decided against it. She would make it up to Unohana-taicho eventually. She just needed a little bit more time, that was all. So she simply nodded her understanding, unable to find any fitting words to reply.

"Now, seeing that your condition has not improved over the past hour, I think it would be best for you to get some sleep", Unohana told her fuku-taicho in a very sweet motherly tone.

"Hai, but the energy pill is still working."

"I know. That's why I created this antidote. It will disperse the energizing effect and put you to sleep very fast."

Hearing this, Isane felt truly grateful for having Unohana as her doctor for the first time since she was feeling sick. Only Unohana-taicho could foresee her desperate need to sleep and contrive a fitting remedy. She eagerly took the phial from Unohana and swallowed down the sour liquid.

"Thank you, taicho-sama."

At this Unohana simply motioned Isane to lay back down and tucked her in. The medicine worked very fast, and it felt like total bliss to Isane. Finally, this long day would be over. And as soon as she would be asleep, Unohana-sama could return to her normal work. With this last thought in mind, the fuku-taicho fell into a deep slumber. How very wrong she was.

Unohana still had to figure out the cause for Isane's persistent sleeping problem . Therefore she had already decided to watch over Isane's sleep. After making sure, that her assistant was asleep and putting a cold cloth on her forehead, Unohana quickly got to her office to fetch some paperwork. On the way there, she met Hanataro and instructed him, to call her only in a case of emergency and to spread the order within the squad. That being done, she returned to the white bed room, pulled up a chair and silently started to work on her reports.


	8. Living nightmare

8. Living nightmare

Kotetsu Isane was swimming in a wide sea. She couldn't remember, when she got into the water nor where she actually was. The water was also very strange. First of all, it was very warm, too hot for her liking. She had the feeling of being cooked alive. Then there was its strange color, it had some brownish-yellowish tint. The intense smell coming out of it, made the fuku-taicho almost throw up. How did she got here?

The fuku-taicho could not see any familiar landmarks to help her orientate herself. Knowing, that she could not swim for an endless amount of time, she took a closer look at her surroundings. To her right hand, she saw some large long object floating in the water, while to her left some indefinable smaller items could be seen. Needing something to hold onto, Isane turned to her right. Getting closer, she saw that this thing was orange and very flat.

Finally reaching it, Isane pushed herself up out of the water and sat down on this weird plank. Now, that the immediate danger of drowning was gone, she decided to gather all available information and figure out, where she was. Obviously, it must have been daytime, because it was very bright. But for some reason, she couldn't see the sun, though there were no clouds in the sky.

Isane made a full turn around - wherever she looked, there was a high wall surrounding these waters. The wall was white and looked very smooth, and nowhere some kind of entrance or even a fissure could be seen. How did she get here? This was becoming more and more confusing. Suddenly some very loud slurping sounds were heard.

Searching for the noise's source Isane looked up again - and screamed her lungs out. She was staring right into two humongous eyes. A second later, the fuku-taicho realized that these eyes must belong to an even larger kind of face, because suddenly a dark plane mouth with very sharp looking teeth opened up to her.

"Hmmh, what is this deliciously looking thing, swimming in my miso soup?"

Miso soup?! Suddenly, realization hit Isane. She was actually standing on a large piece of carrot. The water was no water at all but sardine dashi. And apparently right now, she was in some monster's meal. Looking up to it again, she saw that it was a giant fishcake.

"Help! Somebody help me, please!"

Isane was frantic and in full panic mode right now. She could feel the monster picking up the bowl, lifting it to its ugly wide open mouth. Trying to escape the inevitable, she jumped right into the soup, fighting against the new current, which would only lead to certain death.

"No! I don't want to be eaten by you, you ugly fish cake. No!", Isane was calling out while rowing wildly in the surrounding liquid.

"Isane, wake up.", a soft warm voice was heard suddenly from above.

"Isane!"

With a jolt, Isane woke up. Sitting upright in her bed, panting and sweating madly, the fuku-taicho had a very hard time to get a grip on herself at first. Still her eyes closed, she didn't know what to do next.

"Isane. Calm down. It was just a nightmare. Nothing is going to happen to you. Just take some deep breaths. Everything will be alright."

This voice sounded so nice and trustworthy. Like a mother's comforting her scared child. It was so nice. And somehow it sounded so familiar. Isane had heard that voice somewhere before. Suddenly she felt two hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her down on the bed again. As soon as her head hit the pillow, the fuku-taicho felt a gentle warm hand moving up to her brow, stroking some stray hair out of her face.

"You still have a high fever. Do you think you can get back to sleep or shall I give you something?"

"Unohana-taicho, is that you?", Isane asked timidly into the dark, recognizing finally the kind voice's owner.

"Yes, it's me. Now, do you think you can go back to sleep?"

"Hai."

Isane felt dead tired. Every muscle hurt, her arms and legs felt heavy as lead and her lungs were still not fully able to take in air at a normal pace. On the other hand, she now felt so secure and well cared for. Her beloved taicho was here: taking care of her, making sure she would not suffer any more nightmares. Easing her pains. Not letting her alone. Everything just felt warm and cozy. She would not go away, even though it must be in the middle of night. WAIT A MOMENT!

And again Isane was sitting upright in her bed. Just this time with her eyes opened wide in shock, staring at Unohana.

"Taicho-sama! What in Seireitei and earth are you doing here? It's in the middle of the night! You shouldn't be here!" an agitated Isane screeched at the top of her lungs.

Sensing her fuku-taicho riling and getting stressed out again, Unohana quickly released some of her reiatsu. Feeling the pressure weighting heavily on her, Isane had no choice but to stop her babble and looking down. Catching her breath again, she slowly rose her head. Trying to keep her voice even and steady, she tried again:

"Unohana-sama. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"Isn't that obvious? I am taking care of you", Unohana responded with a serene and kind smile.

"But it must be past midnight. And you also need to sleep."

"Yes it is. As for my need to sleep, I simply have decided to sleep here with you in this room."

At these words, Isane took a look around. With her eyes now accustomed to the dark, she saw a futon laying on the floor. She couldn't believe it. Unohana-sama, taicho of the fourth squad, was sleeping on the hard floor, while Isane, a mere fuku-taicho, could rest in a comfortable bed. This was just wrong.

Seeing her assistant's eyes staring at her sleeping place, Unohana elaborated.

"Isane, as long as I haven't figured out the cause for your past month's insomnia, I will stay here with you during the night. This way I can also make sure, that you get the rest your body so desperately needs right now."

"Taicho-sama. I assure you, I do not have a sleeping problem. I just worked a little too much, helping other shinigami out and finishing the paperwork on time. That's all."

"No Isana, it is not. Helping other shinigami and the amount of your paperwork cannot sufficiently explain your constant lack of sleep. And until I know, why you haven't been sleeping, I will stay here.

"But taicho-sama!"

"Isane!"

And there was the scary smile again. Isane knew, she had lost the fight for tonight. But not every battle was forlorn yet. Tomorrow, she would make her taicho see reason again.

While Isane debated with her inner thoughts, Unohana scrutinized her fuku-taicho once more. Isane looked worse for the wear. Her fever was still up high, her breathing somewhat heavy. And even though it was dark, she could clearly see Isane's ghostly white skin, her body shivering and shaking endlessly.

"You need to sleep Isane. I promise, we will talk about everything that is on your mind tomorrow. You just need some rest first", Unohana softly spoke to her sick friend.

Exhaling loudly, Isane nodded her head and started slowly to lay down again. Smiling, Unohana helped her, tucking her in once more, making sure that her dear Isane was comfy and warm.

"Sleep well, Isane."


	9. Cat and Mouse I

9. Cat and Mouse I

When Kotetsu Isane woke up the next, she felt comparatively good. She got a lot more sleep than she did over the past months, her temperature seemed to have gone down and also the pain in her head and throat had subsided. Overall, she was ready to work again!

Judging by the light in her bed room, Isane assumed that it had to be some time around noon. Looking cautiously around and to her delight, she also found herself alone. Very slowly and quietly, not to arouse a certain taicho's attention, she crept out of her bed, found her robes in a drawer and changed into them. It felt just great being able to get to work! She only had to get out of this room and then she would be on her way. Yeah!

The fuku-taicho was just about to open the bed room door, when it was opened for her from the other side. Isane immediately stopped in her tracks. This was not good. Right in front of her stood Unohana-taicho, smiling serenely at her.

"Isane, may I ask, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Ahh..., Well, I am feeling much better. And I thought, I could just return to work, Unohana-taicho."

"And when did I change the rules, that my patients can release themselves without my consent and even without my knowledge, fuku-taicho?"

That of course, was a rhetorical question. Unohana would never come up with such a rule. For that she cared way too much for her patients, even when it wasn't always appreciated.

"You did not. However, I am your fuku-taicho for a reason. I can very well judge my own condition and am able to take care of myself. And I am feeling much better than yesterday", Isane tried to explain sheepishly.

"That is very good to hear, Isane. However, the rules say, that either I or you have to approve for a patient to be released. As you are the patient right now, only I get to decide, whether or not you may return to work. Now please take a seat on your bed, so that I can take a look at you and see, how much your condition has improved, please."

Lowering her head in frustration, Isane had no choice but to obey. She slouched very slowly over to the bed, hopped on it and waited for whatever had to come. Unohana followed her movements with some amusement in her eyes. Usually, they both agreed, that the best patients are the ones, who cooperate and leave the evaluation of their health up to them. How many times had they sat together, drinking tea and talked about those "difficult, stubborn and partly foolish" patients? And now, Isane was behaving in the exactly same way.

After her fuku-taicho had settled down on the bed, Unohana walked over to her and started the examination. As always, she was very thorough. In the end, she was very satisfied with the results. Isane's conditions was indeed a lot better than the day before. Her temperature was down to a 38.3 Celcius (100.94 F), the inflammation in her throat was less pronounced and the infection still did not spread into the lungs. So far, so good.

"How is the headache?"

"It is much better. In fact, it is gone, taicho. Really, I am fine. Can I go back to work now?"

Unohana couldn't help but slightly shake her head at her fuku-taicho's stubbornness. She appreciated this quality of hers, when they both had to work on difficult cases for hours, or sometimes even for days. But right now this special trait was not helpful.

"No Isane, you may not. Though I am very satisfied with your results, you are still ill. I want you to stay in bed for at least another two days."

"Why taicho-sama? That is not necessary. I feel fine. Please, let me return to work", Isane pleaded and begged her taicho.

"This matter is not up for discussion Isane. Now, take this medicine and then please lay down again", Unahana responded now suddenly very sternly.

Very annoyed and irritated, the fuku-taicho did as she was told. Oh boy, these were going to be two very long days. What was she supposed to do in all this time? If possible, she was sure, she would die of boredom. In addition, during that time she was forced to be completely useless to her taicho - a fact, which disturbed her interminably. Unless...

"Taicho-sama, if I promise to stay quietly in bed, can I at least do some of the paperwork? Surely, this wouldn't be too exhausting in my current condition?", the fuku-taicho asked hopefully.

At these words, the taicho's eyebrows moved up about an inch. What was it with Isane, to always think of work and nothing else? Unohana started to wonder, if she somehow was putting her stuff under too much pressure. After all, every single member in her squad seemed to be eager to put in some extra effort at all times. However, none was going to such extremes as the fuku-taicho. And none was getting sick because of it like her. Again, Unohana felt like she had to stop her Isane now, preventing her from inflicting more harm to herself. Thus, she pulled up a chair and sat down, determined to get to the bottom of this irrational behavior.

"Isane, why is it, that you always think of work when you actually have some time to relax?"

"Well, that is easy", Isane said in a surprised and slightly offended tone.

"There is always more work to do."

"Yes, that is true. Though everybody else still manages to take some time to relax."

"No, that is not true. Not everybody is relaxing when the workload gets slightly less", Isane answered sullenly.

"You don't take some time off to calm down either, taicho-sama."

Hearing this, Unahana was astonished, clearly taken by surprise. What in Seireitai gave her fuku-taicho the impression, that she herself did not take any breaks at all and was instead working constantly?

"Isane, what are you talking about? Of course, I take my time to relax too. For example, when the two of us are having tea together or when I meditate talking with Minazuki. Doing so, always helps me to unwind and relax my body and mind", Unohana explained.

"How can those activities help you to loosen up, taicho? When having tea with me together, you are either calming me down after I had one of my nightmares or we are talking about medical cases. And clearly talking with Minuzuki can be considered training and not resting!"

"That may be true, still those activities help me. I find nothing exhausting in talking to you, no matter what the topic. Usually, I find our conversations quite entertaining and having you around always gives me a good feeling. Now, I admit when meditating, my mind still has to work for quite a bit, but it eases the physical strain I usually feel after a long day. And in addition to that - I never neglect sleeping, unless it cannot be helped due to medical emergencies."

Unohana said the last sentence in a slightly scolding tone to her fuku-taicho. Isane certainly did not pay enough attention to her own body's needs. The fuku-taicho though a minute about the just received information. Even though everything made perfectly sense, there had to be a loophole, something missing. Surely, it couldn't be so simple. Or, which was also very likely, Unohana-taicho was simply so brilliant, that no matter what she did, a part of her would always be in a state of relaxing.

If the later was the case, Isane had no chance of adopting that special trait from her taicho. In Isane's world taking some time off always meant, leaving her taicho with more work. And this was something certainly not happening - not if the fuku-taicho could help it. However, Unohana's words also gave Isane a brilliant idea, what she could do next.

"I guess your long talk means, I am not allowed to do any paperwork while being in your care, right? Can I then follow your example and meditate a little with my zanpakuto? It would certainly help me, to get time pass more quickly while being stuck here."

Seeing nothing harmful in her fuku-taicho's request, Unohana nodded in agreement and called Hanataro Yamada, to fetch Itegumo out of Isane's office.

"Thank you, taicho-sama."

Isane was positively grinning at Unohana. For some reason, the four's taicho didn't like it at all. She was sure, her assistant had something planned out. Something, that would only aggravate her condition. At moments like these she silently cursed her inability to read minds. Thus, when Hanataro returned, she felt the need to give a stern warning to her fuku-taicho.

"Isane, mind me now. I want you to rest and sleep for the better part of the coming two days. You may meditate for a little while, but if I find out that you have exhausted yourself again, physically or mentally, I will put a stop to it. Is that clear?"

"Hai, Unohana-taicho. Perfectly clear. I will make certain, not to worsen my condition", Isane quickly replied.

Giving her fuku-taicho a last piercing look, Unohana finally left the room. Exhaling one long breath, Isane was finally ready to put her plan into action. If Unohana would find out, what she was up to, she probably would find herself confined to a bare cell for a month at least. However, she did not know.


	10. Cat and Mouse II

10. Cat and Mouse II

"Itegumo, where are you? Itegumo?"

Kotetsu Isane, fuku-taicho of the fourth squad was getting very impatient by now. After Unohana had left, she immediately had begun to meditate. For her plan to work, she had to talk to her Zanpakuto at first. And now, Itegumo took her sweet time to come out. Damn it.

Of course, Isane knew the reason for that. She barely took the time to talk to her soul friend and when she did, she was always in need of something. It wasn't like the fuku-taicho didn't enjoy her stay in this part of her mind, she was just too busy with work and learning and work and helping others and work and getting better to help Unohana.

Finally, Isane saw her surroundings change: what formerly appeared to be an empty white vast space, was now changing into a wild forest scenery. The leaves were of golden color and many had already fallen to the ground. Isane couldn't help but smile, when a little wind was picking up some leaves, forming a moving pillar right in front of her.

"Hello Itegumo."

"Hello Isane-san. You haven't been here for a long while. And why do I get the feeling, that you just dropped by to ask me for help? Again?", Itegumo retorted immediatly.

That was so typical of her - coming straight to the point. The fuku-taicho knew, she had no chance of deceiving her sword. After all, Itegumo has very sharp in regard to its blade and its intelligence. In a real battle, when being in Shikai, it would cut most materials. However, its true strength was, that it could amplify Isane's reiatsu and thus her kido spells.

"Well, because I do need your help. And that rather urgently. See, Unohana thinks I am too sick to work - which I am not. And she has ordered me to stay in bed for another two days. Can you imagine the amount of paperwork, that is going to pile up during that time? I have to do something about it and for that I need your help."

"And why should I help you? You never visit. And instead of spending some time with me, after you have been ordered to rest for a least two days, you want me to work and help you to evade that order. What would I gain out of this deal?"

"Well, I believe that you will find my plan very amusing. And even more, if it fails and Unohana has my head for it. So pure entertainment for you", Isane spoke through gritted teeth.

"What's your plan?", Itegumo asked excitedly.

"I need to get out of this room, without taicho-sama noticing. And that is the point where I need your help. I want you to copy my reiatsu, because I believe Unohana-sama is constantly checking, if it is in this room. I will mask my own of course. So in the end, as long as no one sees me on my way to the office and no one is getting inside this room while I am gone, it should work out."

"I understand the plan, but do you think you are strong enough for it? This kind of kido will cost you a lot of energy and ..."

"I will be fine! Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yes, I will. Though I admit, I cannot wait to see Unohana's reaction if she catches you red-handed."

"Thank you for your trust in my abilities. Now, I will go back and prepare everything. Thanks for your cooperation, Itegumo."

"It's nothing at all."

And with these words, the surroundings changed back into the white space before Isane's eyes before the slowly woke up out of her meditative state. Looking around, she realized, she was still alone. The fuku-taicho concentrated to find Hanataro Yamada's reiatsu. After she found it, she used a very simple kido spell to establish a communication link to him and asked him to come by as soon as it would be convenient for him. Sure enough, three minutes later, the young officer entered the room.

"Fuku-taicho, what can I do for you?", Hanataro asked in his usual friendly manner and bowed.

"Yes Hanataro-kun. Thank you for coming so quickly. My headache just got a little worse again and I wondered if you could bring me a sleeping pill, so that I can sleep it off for the next hours."

Immediately taken by concern, Hanataro rushed over to her side, peering into her eyes, taking her pulse and checking her temperature.

"Isane-san, are you alright? You never ask for medication or admit, that you are sick."

"Well, Unohana-sama has made it very clear to me, that I am indeed sick and need to stay in bed. Certainly, I want to get back to work as soon as possible, so I figured, I get as much rest as possible. It is just, that this pain is keeping me from sleeping. Can you help me?"

"Sure, I can get you the medicine, but shouldn't we inform taicho-sama of your condition?"

"No, no. I do not want to bother her over such a small matter. Really. Otherwise I am fine. I only need some hours of peace and quiet, without anyone coming in and without this pain."

"Alright, I get it for you right away, fuku-taicho."

True to his word, ten minutes later, Yamada returned with the sleeping juice and a glass of water in his hands. He left everything on the bedside table and then left the room after assuring his superior, that no one would bother her for the next two hours at least.

When Isane was finally alone again, she got of her bed, flushing the medicine down the drain and changed into her shinigami robes. That being done, she took her Zanpakuto, concentrated her reiatsu and spoke the kido incantation to project her spiritual energy signature on Itegumo. The spell indeed took a lot out of her. That's why the fuku-taicho needed to sit down after it for a couple of minutes, to get rid of the sudden dizzy spell she got.

Having found her balance again, Isane very slowly made her way to the door. Being the fuku-taicho, she was well able to identify every squad member's reiatsu and their respective positions inside the building. Most importantly right now of course was the location of Unohana. Apparently, she was in her office.

After making sure, that nobody was near the passage way to the white bedroom, Isane silently left the room and got inside the core of the care unit's building complex. Now the whole procedure was getting more complicated by every step she took. She had to make sure, not to be seen and unfortunately her fellow shinigami did not remain still on their spots but were moving around the entire building. It took Isane, almost 30 minutes to get near her office right beside the main hall, when she suddenly felt Unohana's reiatsu very near her.

Concentrating, the fuku-taicho felt, that Unohana was going straight for her position. She was not near enough to her office to hide in there yet. Taking a look around, Isane stepped inside a nearby niche, eagerly praying that her taicho would not notice her.

Unohana had just been called to a new patient. Usually her fuku-taicho would make the first assessment, but that of course that was not an option today. She walked by her fuku-taicho's office and was almost inside the main hall, where all walls had slots cut out, for people to better get out of the way for emergency personal rushing through, when suddenly a young officer called after her.

"Unohana-taicho! The new patient was brought into treatment room ten, because he did not want to be seen by the whole squad. Please follow me."

At this Unohana immediately turned around, not noticing that her fuku-taicho was mere inches away from her. At that moment Isane let out a sigh in great relieve. Uff, that was close, way to close for her liking. Pulling her nerves together she resumed her course to the office. After 45 minutes, she finally reached her goal. She quickly grabbed an ink pot, her ink brush and of course the folder with the actual paperwork. It was completely filled.

Having put her loot in a bag, it took Kotetsu Isane almost another 45 minutes to get back to her room. She had to hurry up. Hanataro-kun promised her two hours and thus she only had another 15 minutes left. She had just changed back into her sleeping attire, hidden her stuff inside the bedside cabinet and got herself back into bed when she sensed Unohana-taicho coming near her. She just released the kido spell from Itegumo when the door to her room was opened.

"Hello Isane, how are you feeling?", Unohana asked in her motherly tone.

"I am feeling fine, taicho-sama", Isane replied a note to quickly.

Unohana gazed at her fuku-taicho. Something was wrong here. Isane's cheeks were flushed, her breathing was increased and overall she looked very exhausted and not rested at all. What had happened? She almost looked like someone, who had just run a full round around Seireitei.

"Isane, did you not agree to be a good patient and to tell me the truth about your health?"

Of course Isane remembered her promise. And it certainly had not been her intention to lie to her taicho-sama in such a foolish and obvious way. Everything had just happened too quickly, she simply hadn't have enough time to assess her own condition. Thus the untruthfulness. Taking in a deep breath, calming down, Isane concentrated and calmly answered:

"No taicho-sama. I am sorry. It seems like my fever has gone up a little again. Otherwise I am fine."

"And have you done anything to cause the rising of your fever?" Unohana inquired.

"No, I didn't."

"My dear Isane, did I not tell you, that you should not lie to me anymore?"

At these words every single hair on Isane's body stood on end. The scary smile on her taicho's face just got even more scarier than it was before. She was in so much trouble now.


	11. Consequences

11. Consequences

Trouble wasn't even beginning to describe the situation, Isane found herself in. She could literally see the anger in her taicho's eyes gleaming at her. She swore to herself instantly, that she never wanted to make this experience again. But what was there to do right now? Nervously, the fuku-taicho fumbled with her blanket, looking nervously at Unohana-sama.

"Isane, you will tell me this instant, what it is that you have done to aggravate your condition!"

Gulping at these words, Isane realized she had no choice but to tell the truth about her breakout. On the other hand, her taicho would not be pleased about it either. So what was there to do - both options led to hell and the fuku-taicho wasn't anything but scared for her life right now.

"W..W..Well, I got out of bed for a little time", she answered nervously.

"You got up?"

Obviously, Unohana was a little confused here. She had monitored Isane's reiatsu on a regular basis. It had been always in this very room. And then in dawned on her - Itegumo.

"Fuku-taicho, you certainly never fail to impress me. May I assume that you used your kido-skills to copy your reiatsu and ordered Itegumo to help you with your plan?", Unohana asked in a calm but dangerous voice.

"Y-Y-Yeeesss", came the very reluctant answer.

"And where have you been going?"

"Nowhere specific. I just wanted to get out of bed and fetch some fresh air", Isane responded.

However, her eyes were telling a different story, having a will of their own and moving frantically between Unohana and the bedside cabinet. Something, the taicho noticed of course. Following Isane's eyes, Unohana walked over to the said cabinet.

"Is that so? So, if I were to check this cabinet, I would find nothing that would contradict your story Isane?"

At this moment, Isane wished the bottom beneath her bed would open up and she could hide in these depths for about 200 years. She knew, she had no chance of escape anymore, she was trapped. And speechless - she did not even try to answer Unohana's questions anymore but looked silently down on her trembling hands. She did not know what to do next. Unohana on the other hand, knew exactly, what to do. She opened the drawer and instantly found all the things Isane had got out of her office. Counting one and one together, Unohana faced her fuku-taicho once more. Her demeanor was now very firm.

"Isane, I think something else happened. Instead of following my orders, you performed a highly sophisticated kido spell to transfer you reiatsu signature on to your zanpakuto. Being sick as you are, your body couldn't cope very well with this kind of stress and thus you worsened your condition. That however did not bring you back to your senses. You then decided to sneak out of your room, evading all shinigami in this squad and made your way to your office. There you took all available paperwork you were hoping to finish, while nobody would be watching you in this room. Of course the walking to your office and back here exhausted your body even further and thus your fever had risen again. And on top of it, you lied to me about it several times directly into my face. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Isane fuku-taicho? Anything, that would make your recent behavior appear more reasonable? "

Somehow, the way Unohana had described Isane's actions, made it sound so much worse than it really was in the fuku-taicho's mind. After all, she had just wanted to get some paperwork, she could finish while being stuck in this room. It was never her intention to worsen her condition on purpose.

"No, that is pretty much what happened", Isane admitted.

She felt dreadful. Her face was white, except her flushed cheeks, she was sweating and shivering at the same time and of course her headache had returned. Naturally, these all could be side effects of her fever, but somehow Isane knew, that this time, it was indeed her fear that mainly caused these symptoms.

It really hurt Unohana to see her Isane in such a bad condition. Sighing, she calmed down, putting on her usually nice and serene face and addressed her fuku-taicho once more.

"Well Isane, I think you will agree, that I cannot let such behavior go by unpunished. However, given your current state, we first have to take care of your illness. First, as you cannot be left alone, I will call Hanataro to stay here with you, when I cannot. The only things you will be doing are eating and sleeping, until I say otherwise. Is that understood?"

"Hai, taicho-sama", Isane answer quickly, seeing she had no other choice.

So, the next two days passed by rather uneventful. Isane was never left alone, and despite her boredom, she never tried even once to start a conversation - neither with Hanataro-kun nor with Unohana-taicho. In case of the first one, she just felt to embarrassed and in case of the later, she simply was too scared what the outcome of such a talk could be. And there was still the looming matter of her punishment.

After three full days of nothing but bed rest, Unohana was finally satisfied with her fuku-taicho's condition. She had personally seen to it, that Isane got enough rest and sleep and ate sufficiently. All her flu symptoms had gone as well. Only, Isane had decided not to talk to her anymore, so the taicho had been unable to find out more about the reasons behind Isane's strange behaviour for the past months and her lack of sleep. This mystery still had to be cleared. After giving her fuku-taicho a last check-up, Unohana prepared herself to inform Isane about her punishment.

"Isane, you will be glad to hear that you can return back to work. However, as punishment for your disobedience, your untruthfulness and for risking your health needlessly, you will not return to your usual duties. You will instead return to the academy."

"To the academy? You degrade me not only from second seat but you sent me back to school?", Isane was shocked and completely confused about this. She did not understand this reprimand at all.

"No, you are still my fuku-taicho. I just have the feeling, that you do not trust me. Thus I decided you will not be assisting me for a while but instead teach the future fourth's squad shinigami to become professional healers. This includes of course also partaking in their practical work."

"No, Unohana-sama. Please don't do that to me. I promise, I will never make you worry again about me. Please taicho-same, everything but that!", Isane was pleading now from the bottom of her heart.

Unohana could not have found a more severe punishment for Isane. Training shinigami at the academy in medical science was the most boring work in regard to the difficulty of medical cases and the most exhausting work in regard to controlling these students' emotions, temper and attitudes while trying to stay calm and collected.

"Isane, you will be training the shinigami of class three at the academy starting tomorrow. And I expect nothing less but supreme results from this class. Is that understood?"

"Hai, taicho-sama."

The next day, Isane walked over to the academy in a dull mood. Her new assignment required her to first go to the teacher's lounge in order to speak to the former teacher of class three and get the reports of her new students. Entering the room she was immediately greeted by a man, with white hair and beard bowing to her.

"Kotetsu fuku-taicho!" It is nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Karito Yaata. Until today I have been the teacher of class three."

"Good morning, Karito-sensei. It is nice meeting you as well. I want to get started with my work as soon as possible. Could you please tell me more about the class three students?"

"Of course. May I suggest we go over there to the table, where I have deposited the student's files?"

Nodding her head, the two teachers walked over to the table and got into work. It turned out, that Isane's fears were not unwarranted. Apparently her class consisted either of students, who think of themselves as all-powerful healers who already know everything or pupils, who seemed to get a heart attack every time they see a drop of blood. On top of it, the class' average grade was the lowest of the academy's year.

Reviewing the reports Isane cursed her luck. Of course, this was a punishment, so it was only logical that she would get the bottom class assigned. Still, she had hoped Unohana would get a little easy on her. Obviously that was not the case. Sighing loudly, Isane steeled herself and faced her associate once more.

"Karito-sensei, according to these files the fresh-men are able to control their healing kido well, but as soon as it comes down to practical assignments, all of them seem to fail."

"I am afraid you are right, fuku-taicho. In this group are students who learn eagerly all the theory, but are afraid of even coming close to a patient. Others simply don't care to learn and I am reluctant to let them see a patient. After all, the well-being of our patients is our top priority, is it not?

"Yes, of course. Alright, I better go greed my class. Thank you for your time, Karito-sensei."

They bowed to each other and Isane left the staff room. No matter how she looked at the situation, she desperately wished she wouldn't have gotten on Unohana's bad site. After all, she had only tried to improve her skills to help her taicho in a more sufficient way. Only she did not want to tell her about it yet. So she had to bend the truth a little bit from time to time. No harm was done. Ok, almost no harm was done as she got herself sick. But that was her decision, wasn't it? And yet, now she was here - being forced to teach these fresh-men, who so far have shown no sense for the duties and obligations of a healer. And worse of all she had no idea, how long Unohana-taicho wanted her to work at the academy.

Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, Isane faced her class room's door. She had no idea, how the students would react to their new teacher, but she was determined to fulfill her order to help all of them to become excellent healers. Slowly she entered the room, starting her new assignment.


	12. Theory and Practice

12. Theory and Practice

Kotetsu Isane slammed the door and sat down on the floor of her quarters, her back sliding down along the door and thanking whomever that the weekend was about to start. Two blissful days where she could concentrate on her important research on the ancient healing kido spell without having to put up with the incompetence, stupidity and stubbornness of her students.

When she had read the reports of class three she knew that Unohana had given her quite a difficult task. However, after just five days working with these young shinigami, the fuku-taicho was forced to revise her judgment. This was not a difficult task – it was a cruel, exhausting and mentally painful task. Letting out a deep breath, Isane reflected on the events of the past days.

Day 1:

After Kotetsu Isane had introduced herself formally to her class, she started her theory lesson about the necessary precautions regarding personal hygiene when dealing with open wounds. In general there where two basic rules: always work with clean hands and always wear gloves. Usually, students understood these rules and followed them – usually. Of course that was not the case with class three.

"Why should we always disinfect our hands and change into a new pair of gloves? It is a waste of supplies and time, especially when we have a lot of patients waiting," one of the students asked with a voice dripping of self-confidence.

"Oh let's see – because a healer should never expose a patient to further infections, or maybe to protect himself from infections or because it is simply yucky to treat someone with unclean hands or with already used gloves?" Are these enough reasons for you?"

"No. I mean, if I treated a patient who did not have an open wound, why could I not simply continue working on the next patient?"

"There are germs, bacteria and viruses everywhere: not only inside a body but also on your skin, on the patient's skin and in the air around you. That is why we always have to keep our hands clean," the fuku-taicho explained calmly but through clenched teeth. She couldn't believe she had to stand here in front of these greenhorns, discussing basic rules of healing patients. She, the fuku-taicho, right hand of Unohana-taicho, best healer in Seireitei, seriously had to put up with that?

"Now, I expect you to follow these rules to the point. If you don't there will be dire consequences. Is that understood?"

"Hai, fuku-taicho," the class responded in unison.

The rest of the morning was spent going through details of personal hygiene and wound treatment. At noon Isane felt already exhausted, having endured the constant questions and arguments of her class. She had about an hour before the practical part of today's lesson would start. The fuku-taicho chose to use the time for more learning – this old kido spell fascinated her more and more the longer she familiarized herself with it. It was a genius way of modifying one's own reiatsu to heal wounds immediately. On top of it, there really seemed to be no side effects for the patient at all.

The break was over too soon and the fuku-taicho returned to her class. Practical lessons took also place at the academy, however not in a normal class room but in treatment rooms specifically designed for young shinigami to get hands on experience in treating the ill and injured. These rooms looked exactly like the standard rooms within the squad four building, with the exception of not having every medicine available there.

Entering this part of the academy Isane felt like home. Oh how much she wished, she could go back to squad four right now, instead of being stuck here with her class, waiting for patients that had been sent over by her squad because of their minor injuries.

The students were given the task of assessing every patient's wound, name the proper diagnosis and treatment and then perform the treatment under the watchful eyes of the fuku-taicho. A task quite simple in itself but not with this class, Isane had to realize very soon. During lunch break half of her students apparently had forgotten everything they had learned this morning, the other half seemed to have forgotten everything they had learned so far at the academy altogether. As a result, Kotesu Isane had to monitor everyone and everything, raising her voice more than once in the process to prevent any harm from the patients.

At the end of the day, Isane felt utterly exhausted. She had managed to keep her class from inflicting any additional wounds, every patient had received an appropriate treatment and as a bonus her students finally seemed to have understood the basic rules of hygiene. This success came however at a high price – Isane had lost her voice, her throat feeling like sand paper was constantly rubbing over its inside. The fuku-taicho was just in the process of getting her stuff out of the classroom when Karito Yaata entered the room, a big smile on his face and bowing.

"Congratulations Kotetsu-fuku-taicho!"

Isane turned around to him in bewilderment. Why was Karito-sensei saying this? She had merely survived her first day without anyone dying in the process. She tried to express her thoughts but when she opened her mouth no sound came out of it. Seeing her mouth moving the old man was quick to catch on the situation.

"Fuku-taicho, what happened to your voice? Are you ill?"

Isane quickly shook her head. Looking around she found a pad, wrote down something and showed it to Karito.

"Just overexerted my voice," the old man read aloud.

"Well, I suggest you return to your squad. I am sure Unohana-taicho can do something about it."

At these words Isane immediately shook her head furiously again. No way, she would bother Unohana with something as little as a sore throat. The taicho surely had much more important things to attend to. Besides she was perfectly able to take care of the problem herself. Focusing on her own hands, Isane summoned healing reiatsu in her hands and moved them up to her throat.

"With all due respect, I wouldn't do that if I were you, fuku-taicho."

Stopping in her actions, she looked at her associate with a questioning look, silently asking him to elaborate.

"First of all, you cannot heal yourself completely – you could only diminish the symptoms. Secondly, I am sure Unohana would want you to seek help in squad four in order to get your health completely restored, wouldn't she?"

He was right, of course. Sighing she lowered her hands, the reiatsu vanishing out of her hands, and nodded in agreement. Turning around again, she grabbed her belongings, bowed to Karito Yaata and left. Little did she know that the old man immediately contacted Unohana-taicho and gave her a report of today's events as soon as Isane had gone out of his sight.

Kotetsu Isane brought her bag back to her personal quarters thinking how to best deal with the situation: she had better someone help her with her missing voice; but that someone must not be Unohana-taicho. The thought of facing her superior right now sent goose bumps right along her spine. It had been only one day so far and she had already managed to hurt herself. And she wasn't even close to completing her task, which was given to her as punishment: class three was countless miles away from producing excellent results. Well, fortunately squad four had several good healers – surely any of them would be willing to help her.

Having made up her mind, Isane walked over to her squad. At the entrance she met Hanataro Yamada, who was just busy cleaning the area. Touching him at the shoulder, the fuku-taicho got his attention quickly.

"Good evening, Kotetsu-fuku-taicho. I did not expect to see you here tonight. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Isane nodded. Having brought a note pad with her, so that she did not have to use some kind of sign language, she scribbled down a few well-chosen words to explain the situation to Yamada.

"Ah, I see. Well, I think I can help you with that. Why don't you head down to treatment room four and I will join shortly, right after I have finished my work here?"

Showing her agreement, Isane went straight to room four. She did not know how long it would take Yamada to finish his work, so she simply settled down on the treatment table and closed her eyes. She felt completely drained so every short break was welcome before she would go back to her room and resume her learning.

In the meantime Karito Yaata had finished his report to Unohana Retsu. After having heard the report, she did not regret her order in the slightest to have the old teacher inform her about everything concerning her dear Isane every day. She had been very pleased to hear that thanks to Isane class three managed to finish their assignment for the first time ever. However, when Yaata described the fuku-taicho's initial reluctance to seek help for herself, Unohana was not happy about it at all. Why did her fuku-taicho need convincing to seek medical help from one of her associates?

Well, at least Karito-sensei had been able to send Isane to squad four. Concentrating, Unohana searched for Isane's reiatsu signature. Apparently the fuku-taicho was in the entrance hall together with Hanataro Yamada. Wanting to talk to her assistant anyway about her great success with class three, the taicho walked out of her office to the entrance area. However, arriving there she only found Hanatro there – her fuku-taicho was nowhere to be seen.

"Hanataro-kun, do you know where Kotetsu Isane has gone to?"

"Hai taicho. I do. It seems that the fuku-taicho has lost her voice today due to constant shouting. In order to help her, I asked her to wait for me in treatment room four. As soon as I am finished here, I will go to her."

"Actually, why don't you just finish your work here and head home? You have been working very hard today and deserve to go home early."

Looking up into his taicho's kind and smiling face, the seventh seat bowed and thanked her before continuing his cleaning. Unohana then went to room four. Arriving there, she found her fuku-taicho sitting half asleep on the table.

"Isane, please wake up," the taicho called her with a soft and kind voice.

Instantly Isane was jerked awake hearing her superior's voice. She blinked a couple of times before realizing that indeed Unohana-sama was standing right before her and not Hanataro Yamada. In her surprise she stumbled off the table, trying to speak some apologies for falling asleep and escaping the room at the same time. Of course with her voice gone she could not utter a single syllable and feeling Unohana's hand holding her arm she couldn't leave the room either.

"Please fuku-taicho. Calm down and take a seat again."

Looking down in her taicho's smiling face Isane had no choice but to obey. Calming down a little she threw a questioning look at Unohana. Why was she here and not Hanataro-kun?

"Karito-sensei told me about your good work with class three today. I was very pleased to hear that these young shinigami can actually treat people without exposing them to further damage when sufficiently supervised. I believe today was the first day that ever happened."

Isane couldn't believe her ears. Was her taicho actually praising her for the little work she had accomplished today? After all, at the end of the day her students were only following the basic rules – no more, no less. Certainly that couldn't be considered an achievement. Still, it must have been the case because looking into her taicho's face she could only make out a serene and kind expression. Seeing this, Isane's face flushed a little and she quickly drew her eyes to the floor. She would have thanked Unohana for her unsubstantiated compliment if her voice hadn't decided to take a vacation at the worst of times. Of course, the fuku-taicho's reaction did not pass unnoticed by Unohana Retsu. Using her right forefinger she lifted Isane's chin up, forcing her to look at her again.

"Isane-fuku-taicho, you really did well today. There is no reason for you to feel anything else but content. Now, I was also informed that you had to use your voice in a rather loud fashion today resulting in you being hoarse. Is that correct?"

Isane nodded slightly. Despite her taicho's kind words she still did not want to be here right now. She rather would go back to her quarters and take care of her throat herself. And not waste more of Unohana's time! However, she had no say in the matter, so she took a deep breath and waited patiently for Unohana's next order.

"Alright, I want to take a closer look at your throat. Open up, please."

Isane did as she was told. Peeking down her throat Unohana could see that her fuku-taicho's throat was slightly red and upon closer inspection her voice cords looked very strained. Fortunately there were no signs of a new infection. Summoning some healing reiatsu within her hands, Unohana moved them slowly over her fuku-taicho's throat. Isane felt the effect instantly. The sand paper feeling had gone completely. Clearing her throat she was also aware that her voice was back.

"Thank you Unohana-sama. I feel a lot better now," Isane said in a very low voice.

"No problem Isane. Hopefully in the future you do not need any additional convincing to ask for help the next time you need it. I want you to come to me whenever you are in need, be it for medical reasons or other. Is that understood?" Unohana asked in a very serious tone.

"Hai Unohana-taicho."

"Good. Now you better get home. I believe you have another long day tomorrow at the academy."

Isane got down from the table and was on her way to leave the room when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Is there anything else fuku-taicho?"

"I just wanted .. wanted… Never mind. Good night taicho-sama."

"Good night Isane. Sleep well."

With these words Isane finally left. She had just wanted to ask her taicho how long she would have to continue to teach at the academy but at the last moment she decided against it. She couldn't ask Unohana right after her first day of her punishment. Maybe after a couple of weeks she could ask for a transfer back to her normal work, or if she had mastered the instant healing kido spell. As neither condition was fulfilled yet, she did not ask. Instead she walked back to her quarters and started studying again. As fascinating this spell was it was equally complicated. The user had to be in perfect control of its reiatsu to transform and transfer it to the patient in order to heal his wounds and injuries.

Thus her first day at the academy ended with Isane falling asleep over her books. Her second day was rather uneventful in comparison. She had ordered her students to practice collecting a patient's medical history and to learn what medications are never to be used at the same time due to their interaction.

Day 3:

On the morning of day three, Isane entered the class room finding a note by her taicho laying on her desk. After reading it, she addressed her class.

"Good morning students. It seems that the eleventh squad is having a special training session in which all new recruits have to fight against the third and fifth officer. Unohana-taicho is expecting several injuries and has asked us to take care of the minor wounds while she and the other seated officers take care of the more serious wounds. That means, we all will not only spend the whole day in the squad four medical facilities but also that you will present yourself at your best. I expect everyone to remember what you have learned so far and use that knowledge. Also you will follow every order that is given to you. Is that understood?"

"Hai fuku-taicho," her students answered with one voice.

The first hours passed fairly well. Isane's students worked very concentrated and had avoided making any mistakes so far. Suddenly a yell filled the area. Rushing to the sound's origin Isane was met with a scene of complete chaos. Treatment room ten lay before here in complete shambles, Zaraki-taicho was busy trying to stabb one of her students while Yachiru-san, the obvious source of the scream, was sitting on the floor furious for no visible reason.

Being already out of breath and completely shocked Isane rushed to her student, drawing Itegumo to prevent Kenpachi from inflicting more harm.

"Zaraki-taicho, please refrain from wounding this student anymore. I am sure, he had no intention of hurting you!" the fuku-taicho pleaded desperately.

"Hurting me? Are you kidding? This kid couldn't hurt me even if he were a thousand times stronger," Kenpachi growled.

"Then why are you attacking him?"

"First this bug denied Yachiru some candy and then he tried to give her a shot, even though my fuku-taicho doesn't like that. Well, isn't that enough to squash him?"

Gritting her teeth Isane answered: "No taicho - that is not enough. I am sure there is a good reason why Yachiru-san needs a shot. Please give me a chance to assess the situation completely by talking to my student. I will also see to it that Yachiru-san will get some candy. Please?"

"Kenpachi Zaraki-taicho, kindly put your sword away so that my subordinates can continue with their work."

Hearing this all too familiar voice, Zariki slowly turned to the female voice, being terrified to the bone. Sure enough, Unohana-taicho was standing right behind him giving him one of her scary smiles. The strongest men in Seireitei gulped hard and slowly withdrew his sword.

"Thank you. Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, please take this young shinigami to the next free treatment room and see to his wounds. Meanwhile I will take care of Kusajishi-fuku-taicho."

Wasting no time Isane quickly left the room carrying her injured student. As soon as she had taken care of his massive bleeding the fuku-taicho interrogated him about the incident. It turned out the young man found out that Yachiru never had her blood taken for basic analysis. As for the candy he simply refused to give her any because he thought it would be bad for her health in general and her teeth in particular. Sighing Isane explained to him that one should never draw somebody's blood unless it seems absolutely necessary and that it is never a healer's task to judge someone else's lifestyle.

"But what happens when the young fuku-taicho eats to much candy and gets a stomach ache because of it?"

"Then we will help her and recommend a diet consisting of less candy. However, we will not keep her from eating any candy if she really wants it after being released from our care."

The young greenhorn thanked his fuku-taicho for the lesson and after having gained enough rest returned to his work. Steeling herself for any more disasters to come Kotetsu Isane returned to her work as well. Fortunately the third day with her class had no more troubles in store for her. Still, at the end of the day Isane was once more completely spent, having kept her students concentrated and working diligently.

Day four was almost exactly like day three, only without a major incident.

Day 5:

After having spent almost two thirds of the night practicing reiatsu manipulation the squad four's fuku-taicho greeted her class with bleary eyes.

"Good morning class. Today we are going to join squad ten on an excursion in Rukongai. There have been reports of increased hollow activity and we will be there as a backup in case anyone gets injured. Hitsugaya-taicho will personally lead the mission so everybody without exception has to follow his orders. "

After her little speech the whole class headed out and met the tenth squad party. Hitsugaya-taicho was as cool as always. Actually his coolness was seeping a little which caused several shinigami to quiver a little.

"Alright everybody - we got reports of several hollow appearances in the districts 60 and 61. We have no intel about their strength nor about their number. So I expect everyone to be very careful and on constant vigilance. Further, no one is taking on a hollow alone – no matter how weak it may seem. Questions?"

As nobody had a question the whole unit headed out to the districts 60 and 61. At first everything worked out like planned. After two hours they had taken care of three hollows when suddenly everything turned wrong. Feeling way overconfident Isane's most difficult and stubborn student, Gundai Jira, had left his group and was now searching the area on his own. Sure enough after five minutes he encountered a hollow – a huge massive hollow. And instead of running back and calling for help he drew his zanpakuto and faced it alone.

Of course the young inexperienced shinigami was no match for the hollow and was soon in desperate need of help. Crying out loud, screaming and kicking Hitsugaya Toshiro heard him and immediately came to his rescue. With the help of Hyorinmaru the situation was resolved soon enough, unfortunately only after the hollow had pinched through the taicho's shoulder.

Hitsugaya's wound wasn't life-threatening but serious and bad enough that only Isane could properly take care of it. Even though she had a lot of experience with such wounds, she had a hard time healing this one as Hitsugaya-taicho was very angry and thus did not shield his reitsu completely freezing everything around him as a result. Isane had a very hard time preventing her hands from shaking too much and focusing her reiatsu instead. Only Gundai Jira was freezing even more than the fuku-taicho. Having disobeyed a direct order Toshiro had him imprisoned inside an ice pillar, this way making sure that the young shinigami would not foolishly risk his or anybody else's life anymore.

After another four hours all hollows had been purified and the whole team returned back to Seireitei after Gundai had been unfrozen unceremoniously by Hitsugaya-taicho. Back at the academy the fuku-taicho sent her students home after giving them plenty of homework for the next two days. Sadly she couldn't go home with them as she still had to write this week's reports. Though being very familiar with paper work it took her another three hours before Isane was finally able to go home. It had been a very long week, so all Isane did this evening was crashing on her bed falling instantly asleep. Tomorrow she could concentrate again on her studies.


	13. Sleepless again

13. Sleepless again

Over the next four weeks even Kotetsu Isane could not deny that she indeed had been able to improve class three's performance. Her personal highlight has been realizing that her students could be left alone for about five minutes with a patient without the side effect of killing someone unintentionally.

However more importantly, the fuku-taicho had finally mastered the technique of the instant healing kido spell one step further by controlling her reiatsu to the point to shaping and matching it to anyone else's. It had been tremendously difficult to do, because the book did not give any instructions on how to do that. The author of the book apparently assumed that the reader would be able to do just that. Why that was the case completely evaded Isane's mind.

While it was true, with Itegumo's help she could duplicate her own reiatsu and maintain it and she was sure that all taicho's in Seireitei were able to do that as well, to imitate someone else's reiatsu pattern was a completely different story. First, one has to feel the other's reiatsu, no matter how strong or weak, and figure out what the characteristics are of that particular energy. Even for the fuku-taicho with her high level of reiatsu control, this task alone is challenging - usually shinigami only feel and look for certain reiatsu patterns when they have to find someone quickly, normally their squad's captain. And as their reiatsu's are very unique and strong, even unseated shinigami could rise to the task.

The only way Isane could think of to achieve this high level of reiatsu control, was to ask Itegumo again for help. Like Isane, Itegumo was able to feel the different characteristics of reiatsu but, and this was the important part, it could also remember it. So Kotetsu Isane had spend the past four weeks practicing with Itegumo to imitate first her students reiatsus and then those of randomly chosen people in Seireitei.

During these four weeks Isane again did not sleep more than four to five hours per day, spending every minute either preparing and supervising classes, reading up case files for her regular meetings with Unohana-taicho or practicing with Itegumo. Being sleep deprived once more, signs of lacking sleep started to show on Isane's face. There were again these dark rings around her eyes and from time to time her brain would simply zone out. Unfortunately for the fuku-taicho, her tired mind started to wander into nowhere no matter who she had to pay attention to. So one Friday evening, while sitting together with Unohana Retsu drinking tea, she suddenly found herself suddenly taken by surprise.

"Isane, are you still listening?", the taicho worriedly asked, peeking into her assistant's face.

"What? Oh, I am sorry Unohana-sama. You were saying?"

"I was asking you to evaluate your class's progress. However, I rather like to know now, what is wrong with you!"

"Taicho - nothing is wrong with me. Though I admit I did not get a lot of sleep during the last week. I had to prepare several practical exams for my class - which they all passed by the way - and then I also prepared for this talk here. I am sorry for being inattentive, but I assure you, I am fine, " Isane smiled tiredly at her taicho, hoping she would be satisfied with this half truth and not demand more answers about her lack of sleep.

"You could have asked to postpone our meeting, my dear Isane, " Retsu scolded her slightly.

"Now, is there anything else that prevents you from sleeping? Are nightmares troubling you again? Or are you becoming sick?"

Seeing her superior's worried lock, Isane sighed and raised her hands up in front of her chest as if to hush and calm her down.

"No, taicho-sama. There is nothing else. I simply did not find enough time to sleep over the past few days. I haven't had a nightmare in a month and I am fairly certain of not being sick. However, you may let Hanataro or someone else run a basic examination on me to verify that."

Unohana Retsu expected the denial of anything being wrong, but Isane's offer to get checked did take her by surprise. After all, during the past month Isane hardly let anyone come close to her, and had to be forced to being taken care of while she was indeed sick. So this offer was unusual.

"Very well. I will ask Hanataro-kun to give you a basic examination. Though I admit, I do not understand why you would not let me do it myself."

"That is easy to explain - you are the best healer in Seireitei and I would never allow you to waste some of your precious time on me. Certainly not, when I am not even sick."

"Isane, I told you before that you could never bother me with such things. Your wellbeing is of utmost importance to me," the taicho responded wholeheartedly.

"Hai taicho, and so is your wellbeing to me. I could never forgive myself if I would keep you from resting or fulfilling your obligations. So please, let someone else do this. Please?

"As you wish, " Unohana nodded her agreement.

The rest of the evening went by rather uneventfully. Having finished their tea and their discussion, Hanataro Yamada was asked to take a closer look at his fuku-taicho. Timidly he did what was asked of him - after all, the last time he had to take care of a sick Isane ended with him having a bleeding nose. To his and Unohana's relief he could not find anything wrong with her besides a lack of sleep.

"Thank you Hanataro-kun, " Isane smiled brightly at him. "In that case I will just go home and get some sleep."

With that the fuku-taicho was on her way out of the squad, when all of a sudden she heard her taicho's voice from the other end of the hall.

"Isane, I would like to accompany you home."

"Unoha-taicho!" Isane spun around bowing slightly to her taicho. "Thank you for the offer, but that is not necessary. Besides, it is late and you need to rest as well."

"True, but I think I will sleep better knowing that you are indeed sleeping and not working during the night - a habit you unfortunately developed over the past weeks. So, I would like to bring you home and see you to bed."

"No, taicho-sama. Please don't!" The very thought of Unohana-sama tucking her in made Isane blush endlessly. After all, she was a grown woman. She did not need to be treated like a little child, who does not know, what is good for her.

"I promise, I will go straight to bed and not work anymore tonight, " Isane pleaded. Looking into her taicho's face, the fuku-taicho instantly lost all hope of going home alone instantly. The smile on Unohana's face told her enough not to say another word unless she intented to spend another night in one of the squad's bedrooms. Gulping down hard, Isane lowered her head shortly again before the two woman left for the fuku-taicho's private quarters.

"Are you also going to tuck me in?" Isane asked ironically as they both reached the front door.

"That is exactly what I am going to do, " Unohana responded in a light tone.

The shocked expression on her fuku-taicho's face told her, that Isane really did not want that. So she elaborated.

"Isane, you have constantly overworked yourself for the past month. And I want to make sure, that these dark rings beneath your eyes vanish as soon as possible. So yes, I will bring you to bed tonight and will only leave after being certain that you are asleep. Further I am ordering you not to do any work over the weekend. If I find out you disobeyed me again, you will have to face the consequences."

Oh, this smile was more than scary. Looking up at her taicho, Isane could feel her whole body tremble with fear, her short hair standing up on end and shivering all of a sudden, though it was not a cold night. Seeing her reaction, Unohana Retsu knew that Isane got the message and changed her facial expression to calm and serene again.

"I think, we better get in."

Nodding Isane opened the door and let them both in. Being a well organized person, all of Isane's rooms looked very tidy and neat including her desk with her research work. The thought of Unohana's inability to suspect anything without shuffling through her papers made Isane sigh silently in relief.

"I will wait here for you to change for the night, Isane."

Giving in on her fate, Isane nodded and left for the bathroom to get ready for the night. Not wanting Unohana to wait too long for her, she returned to the living room after only 10 minutes. Unohana then waited for Isane to get into bed before tucking her in.

"Sleep well, Isane."

"Thank you taicho-sama, " came the muffled answer before Isane fell asleep instantly.

"She must have been more tired than I thought, to fall asleep within seconds, " Unohana mused. She watched her fuku-taicho for a couple more minutes, making sure that Isane was sleeping peacefully before she left for her own quarters.


	14. Forbidden Kido

14. Forbidden Kido

Kotetsu Isane had done nothing but rest over the weekend. The very thought of being caught by her taicho working and its consequences made her body tremble in fear. So instead she took it easy for once. On Monday however, everything was back to business. The fuku-taicho still had to work at the academy because Unohana-sama had not relieved her of that particular punishment yet.

At first Isane was very annoyed by her teaching task, but over the past weeks she found it quite satisfying to witness her student's progress knowing that some of it was due to her work. Still, she wished she could return to squad four and be of real help to her taicho and treating more challenging wounds than simple cuts and bruises.

On the other hand, these minor injuries gave her an opportunity she would not have had at her squad. She could secretly practice her kido abilities without risking someone's life and more importantly without drawing attention to herself. So on this Monday morning Isane took Itegumo with her to the academy, in order to make sure that she would be really imitating her patients' reiatsu. Seeing the questioning looks on her young shinigamis' faces, she told them that she needed to bond a little more with her zanpakuto. This explanation seemed to be satisfying enough, because all her students nodded in understanding and no more questions were asked about it.

Given that her students had improved in their advertency and their healing abilities, Isane decided for her students to get more hands on experience. So, beginning that week her class would help squad four by dealing with most of the minor injury cases for the main part of the day while they were discussing one to two challenging or interesting cases in the afternoon until class ended. Of course Isane got the idea out of her own case discussions with her taicho. After all, what helped her improve surely would benefit her students as well.

Unohana-taicho was very glad to hear that class three would from now on support her squad in daily work. After all Kenpachi Zaraki never got tired of demanding an extra training session for his shinigami and also hollow activities had noticeably increased. Thus there were lots of injuries to treat.

Isane was very happy as well being back in her former workplace. Entering main treatment room one, she took a moment to breath in the air, smelling the scents of disinfectant and medical herbs. Having done that she order her students to take their respective places and to start treating their fellow shinigamis. She herself also approached a young female shinigami, she had never seen before.

"Good morning. I am Kotetsu Isane. How can I help you this morning?" the fuku-taicho asked politely and with a smile on her face.

"Good morning. My name is Nazomuto Thoru. I had my first training session with Yumichika Ayaegawa-san. He was not very hard with me, saying he had no intention of breaking out a sweat and thus ruining his hair, so we practiced basic sword combat. Sadly, while focusing on the task I did not watch my step and tripped over a boulder and landed rather hard on my back. At first I thought, nothing got hurt but the moment I got up, my lower back felt like being pulled apart in two opposing directions. It is so embarrassing - not only did I manage to get hurt on my first day as a shinigami but also I had to ask permission to come here for a minor injury."

Isane stayed silently up to the point of Nazomuto-chan almost crying about her accident. Soothingly she padded her shoulder and tried to calm her down.

"Nazomuto-chan, I assure you, you are not the first shinigami who got hurt during her first day at squad eleven. Frankly, that happens frequently and also to the older shinigami at this squad. So do not worry about it. Now about your back - it sounds like you hurt some muscle tissue during that fall and, seeing that you can still move all your limbs, I do not think you suffered any nerve damage. Now please lay down here on your stomach and let me have a closer look at your back."

The young woman did as she was asked and laid down on the nearest examination table. The fuku-taicho quickly confirmed her suspicion. Nazomuto Thoru did hurt some muscles in her lower back. Normally such an injury was treated with pain medication and the shinigami had to take it easy for a couple of weeks to let the tissue heal properly.

"This is so perfect," Isane thought. Here was a case, minor enough to try her new kido spell and the young woman would benefit by not having to stop training for the next weeks.

"Nazomuto-chan, I will try to ease your pain by running some healing kido over your back. Please try to relax and also tell me if it begins to feel strange or the pain increases. Alright?"

Seeing her nodding, Isane started to concentrate on the young womans reiatsu. It was a rather strong one, not surprising for a eleventh squad member, and thus Isane could easily detect and feel it. Confirming with her zanpakuto, the fuku-taicho started to manipulate the reiatsu within her hands to match the one of the young woman before her while speaking the spell in a very low voice. As soon as Isane had touched her back, she knew it had worked. The muscles relaxed immediately, the pain on Thoru's face vanished and the young woman started to smile broadly.

"That is amazing. What did you do? My back feels really great, but not only that. Also the stiffness in my neck, which I had for the past three weeks, is gone. Totally awesome."

"I am glad to hear that you are feeling better already. Though I had nothing to do with your neck, I never even touched it, " the fuku-taicho smiled back, though slightly confused about easing pain she did not even know had been there.

"Still, the pain is gone. Thank you so much. Is this permanent? Can I go back improving my fighting skills?" Thoru asked excitedly.

"I think you can return, though if the pain returns, please come back immediately. Is that understood?"

"Hai, Kotetsu Isane."

And with that the young woman left the squad, feeling better than she had been in ages. She decided, if ever she would need medical attention again, she would ask for this tall female shinigami. At that she wondered what rank this woman has within squad four. She had not asked her about it. On the other hand, it couldn't be too high a rank, seeing her treating all the small injuries and not working together with the seated officers in the other treatment rooms.

Watching Nozomuto Thoru leave, Isane felt kind of strange. On the one hand, her very first field test worked out great - the injury was healed completely and there were no side effects. On the other hand it was confusing to hear of having supposedly healed other injuries as well. Thinking about that gave Isane a slight headache. She had not too much time to think about that though. There were still a lot of people who needed her attention and she still had to make sure that her students would not cause any harm.

So the fuku-taicho spent the next six hours healing injuries while helping her students assess and treat their patients in a proper way. This work really tired her out, even though she did not heal all her patients with her new skill. She had decided before, that such actions would certainly draw to much attention to her, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. But some she did - in all instances it worked out perfectly. All reported to feel better, some of them even stated they felt better than they had been since their time at the academy. This added to Isane's confusion and to her annoyance her headache had decided to go up a notch.

After dismissing her class for the day, Isane wished she could simply go home and into bed. She felt so drained and fatigued. This was not an option however, as she still had to prepare for her tea tomorrow with Unohana-taicho. And she could hardly ask her to skip that meeting. It was very likely that Unohana would then assume, that Isane did not follow her order of taking it easy over the weekend. Ironically that was the very reason, Isane now found herself in trouble: she did not work on the weekend and thus did not prepare a new case to discuss with her taicho. So she had to do it tonight.

The fuku-taicho literally dragged herself home and summoned all left energy to get the task done. Two hours later she was finished, sure that it was not her best work but ok. Isane closed her eyes for a moment to find enough strength in herself to get up and into bed. That however did not work out as she fell asleep at her desk.

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho! Are you in there? Do you need help?"

Isane woke up to a worried voice yelling and some banging at her front door. Feeling slightly disorientated she looked around until her eyes fell on a clock standing on her table. It read 11 o'clock.

"Oh no, " Isane was wide awake instantly. She had overslept. And now she also recognized the voice outside her door. It was her fellow teacher Karito Yaata-senpai. She got up as fast as possible, ignoring the slight dizziness in her head, and opened the door.

"Fuku-taicho, is everything alright?" Karito asked worriedly.

"Hai, I just forgot to set my alarm and overslept. I am sorry for causing you so much trouble, Karito-senpai, " Isane responded while slightly bowing to her associate.

"Are you sure? You look ill, " the old man inquired.

"Yes, I am fine. I just need a minute to wake up completely and will come to the academy as fast as possible. Would you please return there now and inform my class that I will join them shortly?"

"As you wish, fuku-taicho. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you."

And with that, Isane returned inside and made herself ready for the rest of the day. She realized, she was in so much trouble now. Unohana-sama would hear about her oversleeping for sure and then she would have to justify herself. Oh, this was so not good. If her taicho merely suspected that Isane did not follow her last order, she could not even imagine what her punishment would be this time. But Isane had no time to think about that right now, so she shook her head to get rid of that thought. Unfortunately that caused her a tremendous headache, something she really did not need right now added to her fatigue.

Fifteen minutes later the fuku-taicho found herself standing in front of her class apologizing for her lateness, before all of them were on their way to squad four. There, Tuesday was pretty much the same as Monday, with the exception that Isane's eyelids felt like having iron weights attached to themselves which made it rather hard to keep said eyes open. Over all her exhaustion increased with each treatment and her head felt like a junior marching band was practicing for its first parade inside. Isane felt dreadful - there was no point denying it. And she had no doubt that this was visible in her face.

But there was no way, she could do something about it before her meeting with Unohana-taicho. As with many healing kidos, the instant healing spell could not be used on oneself. Going into the storage and getting an energy pill was also not a feasible option, remembering the last time she had tried and done that.

Evening drew mercilessly near and the fuku-taicho took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever had to come, before knocking on her taicho's office door and entering.

"Good evening taicho-sama, " Isane greeted Unohane with a deep bow.

"Good evening Isane. Please come here and take your seat before the tea gets cold, " the warm taicho's voice replied.

Isane made her way slowly over to the low table Unohana was sitting at. She still felt dizzy and had a hard time walking in a straight line and manner.

Unohana Retsu scrutinized her fuku-taicho while said person slowly walked over to her. Having Karito-sensei's report in mind of Isane being late at the academy and looking ill, she could now see, what the old shinigami meant. Her dear assistant looked downright sick and tired. Her face was pale, her cheeks were slightly blushed, she could hear her labored breathing and apparently Isane felt dizzy because she was rather swaying than walking over to the table.

The taicho was very concerned. What could have caused her to become so ill in just two days? She knew that Isane had followed her order of not working over the weekend, because with the help of Minazuki and Itegumo she had observed here for that time. So whatever had happened, it must have been yesterday, probably today as well. But what was it? Isane had finally reached her goal and took a seat, looking tiredly at her taicho.

"Isane, Karito Yaata reported to me earlier that you were late for class today."

"Hai, I overslept. I am sorry. It will not happen again, " Isane immediately interrupted.

"He also said that you looked very ill at that time. And frankly you also look very sick to me. Are you alright?"

At these words Isane closed her eyes for a short moment, debating her chances of getting out of her taicho's office without being examined and subsequently declared ill. Concluding that there was no chance at all, Isane opened her eyes again and looked straight into her taicho's face.

"No, I don't, " she admitted. "Though I do not know, what could be wrong with me. Since yesterday I have a persisting headache and feel very tired. Also there is this dizziness that overwhelms me every time I am walking, " Isane described her symptoms while her gaze slowly dropped to the floor the more she talked.

Listening to her fuku-taicho's fainting voice, Unohana Retsu immediately walked over to her site. Lifting her hand to Isane's forehead she felt the feverish heat coming from the woman beside her.

"Well, you are running a temperature. So this time it is me, who will examine you and not anyone else. Let me help you get up and over to the examination room, " Unohana said kindly to her fuku-taicho.

Seeing that her normally stubborn Isane did not even try to protest made Retsu worry even more. She must be really sick. Arriving in the adjacent room, Unohana helped her to lay down on the examination table. At this Isane's eyes threatened to fall close but the fuku-taicho willed them open with all her might.

Unohana Retsu took her time to examine Isane for every possible illness she could think of. However, apart from the apparent signs of fatigue and her fever she found nothing amiss. It was frustrating. Obviously, her dear Isane was ill and in distress and Unohana, the head healer in Seireitei, was unable to find the cause for it.

"Isane, is there anything you have done yesterday, that could have caused your symptoms? Anything you did not do before?"

Isane debated the answer to this question for a couple of seconds. The only new thing had been her usage of the instant healing kido, but it was impossible that this could have caused her illness. After all it was written in her books that this spell had no side effects and her symptoms did not appear right away after she had healed some patients with it. So looking up at Unohana she shook her head no.

"I see. I could not determine the cause for your symptoms yet. So I will have made a single bed room ready for you to stay in while being so sick. This way I can monitor you and react in case your condition gets worse. And Isane, you are on complete bed rest. If I see as much as a toe outside your bed, I will use all available means to keep you constantly in bed. Is that understood? " the taicho said in a calm but very serious tone.

Feeling like being run over by a hundred people, Isane was too exhausted to even think about disobeying her worried taicho-sama. So she only nodded and let her eyes finally close. Seeing her fuku-taicho falling asleep, Unohana gave out orders to prepare a bedroom for Isane and to carry her over there. Isane did not notice any of this. She was vast asleep and didn't hear or feel anything. Neither of being brought to bed by fellow shinigamis, nor being tucked in once again by her beloved taicho.

Seeing Isane sleeping so peacefully, Unohana let out a sigh in relief. At least her fuku-taicho was comfortable right now. Nonetheless, Unohana decided to stay this night in Isane's room, in case anything unexpected happened or if one of the fishcake nightmares should return. And tomorrow she would try again to find out, what ailed her fuku-taicho.


	15. The Attack

15. The Attack

"Unohana-taicho, are you still listening?"

Startled Unohana Retsu refocused her gaze and looked to the source of the voice addressing her. Apparently it was Yamamoto Shigekuni's voice which called her to attention. And as always it sounded not amused.

"Unohana-taicho, would you please share with me and the other taichos here at this meeting, why you are not paying any attention to what has been said about the increased hollow attacks? Is that of no importance to you? Or is there a more urgent matter that requires your attention right now?"

"Hai, Yamamoto-Genryusai. I apologize for my inattentiveness. And of course the increased hollow activities are of concern for me because it also means more possible work for my squad" , Unohana said calmly while slightly lowering her head for a moment. She then elaborated.

"There is also another matter that requires my attention. My fuku-taicho has become very sick four days ago and I have not been able to determine the cause for it."

"What?" The terror was evident on several taicho's faces but it was Hitsugaya-taicho who had managed to ask this simple question. Looking straight into his face, Seireitei's head healer continued to explain.

"Kotetsu Isane showed signs of extreme fatigue, including fever and a significant drop in her reiatsu levels. Though I did every test I could think of and checked the results twice, I could not find any evidence for a new illness or poison or any other possible cause. The only good thing is, that bed rest seemed to do the trick because her condition has improved constantly over the past days. I am planning to release her for the weekend into her own quarters."

"You will do no such thing!"

"Yamamoto-Genryusai?"

"You, the best healer here in Seireitei, could not determine the cause for this illness. Thus it may be a new kind of illness that lies dormant for a short while before it breaks out again and infects new shinigami. Kotetsu Isane will remain in your direct care and will not be released until you have found the cause for her illness. Have I made myself clear?"

Looking into the determined eyes of her superior Unohana bowed deeply to him. It would not make any sense to argue with him in front of all the other taichos. Besides, it drove her mad and crazy herself that the cause for Isane's illness had not been determined yet, meaning she could not help one of the most important people in her life. A situation, which was frustrating and almost unbearable for Unohana Retsu. And now she had another problem to deal with - how to tell her "always energetic and ready to work some more" Isane to stay in bed?

"No way! You can't be serious! I am not staying any longer in bed! I am fine!"

Kotetsu-fuku-taicho's shouts were hearable within the whole squad. It made every shinigami jump or drop whatever they have been holding. All except for one. Unohana Retsu was standing calmly in front of Isane's bed, as patient as ever and smiling kindly. As expected her assistant hadn't taken the news very well.

Isane was furious. What had she done now to deserve such a punishment? Yes, she had been sick for the past days. But not anymore and she was ready to work, no matter what task Unohana-taicho would assign her now. Isane would do anything - even cleaning the sewers. Instead, her taicho is forcing her to stay in bed for no good reason. This situation really stunk - all the fuku-taicho wanted, was to have a purpose and an aim again, preferably being some kind of help to her Unohana-sama.

"Taicho-sama. I feel fine. Why do I have to stay longer in your care and thus prevent you from working on patients who really do need your attention?"

It was very saddening for Unohana Retsu to see her fuku-taicho so unhappy because of an order she had to give. Here she was, standing in front of Isane's bed, while her fuku-taicho was sitting there with a lowered head, staring at her hands which held her blanket in a death grip. Unohana was sure that Isane was close to tears. It was admirable, how much her fuku-taicho wanted to be of help for this squad even though she sometimes crossed the line and risked her own health for it. Taking a deep breath, Unohana walked around the bed to sit at her fuku-taicho's site. She then lifted her chin so that they could see each other's faces before putting her hand on Isane's shoulder.

"Isane, I know you want to be released as soon as possible and return to work. And I am very glad that you feel so much better now than the past couple of days. Yet still, I have to find out why you became so sick in order to prevent that from happening again. I never want to see you in such a condition again Isane. Please, bear with me a couple more days and hopefully I have figured out until then what has ailed you. Alright?"

Hearing and seeing the worry in her taicho's voice and face, Isane nodded her head sadly in agreement.

"But what am I supposed to do all day?"

"Well, if you like and only if you promise me to stop as soon as you get tired or feel sick again, I can order Hanataro-kun to bring you some paperwork as well as some new cases I had while you were teaching at the academy. Would you like to work through them?"

At these words Isane couldn't stop herself and jumped at her taicho, hugging her like there would be no tomorrow. For the first time in weeks she could finally work again directly for her taicho, relieve her of some workload. It was great. It was such an overwhelming feeling that single tears were now rolling down her cheeks.

"I take that as a yes", Unohana said laughing while wiggling her way out of the tight embrace. Doing so she could see her fuku-taicho's face again and was stunned to see the stray tears on it.

"Why are you crying? Are you in pain again?"

"No, Unohana-taicho. I am alright. I am just so happy that you let me work for you again. It almost feels like I am your fuku-taicho again."

"You have always been my fuku-taicho, Isane. Even while doing an excellent job at the academy as an instructor. Now, I let Hanataro-kun bring you some paperwork. Do you promise me to stop working as soon as you feel tired or sick again?"

"Yes, taicho-sama. I promise."

Satisfied with that answer, Unohana left the room and resumed her daily work at the squad. Even though Isane would now take over the paperwork there still had to be a lot done on a regular basis in her squad. And of top of it, the mystery around Isane's illness had to be resolved. In other words, for the first times in month Unohana Retsu would go to the library to do some research in the evening.

And so Unohana Retsu continued to work, treating patients with major and minor wounds, while Kotetsu Isane was sitting in her bed, happily working through reports and case files. Everything seemed fine until ..

"Alarm! Alarm! Help!" A screaming voice ran through the entire squad. Everyone turned their head into its direction, but all they could see was the back of a shinigami's black robe, because its owner was running at high speed until he bumped into Unohana-taicho, who had stepped out of her office as soon as she had heard the yelling.

"Alarm! Hel.. OUch!"

"I am sorry. Did you get hurt?" Unohana asked the young shinigami, who wore the robes of an academy student.

"No, I am alright", the young man answered before looking up and realizing whom he ran into. Getting to his feet in a flash, he immediately bowed to the fourth squad taicho apologizing.

"I am sorry taicho for running into you. I really am. Please, I had no intention of ..."

"It is alright. Now please calm down and tell me why you raised such an alarm", Unohana interrupted him trying to get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible.

Suddenly remembering why he was here in the first place the young shinigami started to yell again.

"Alarm! Hollows from everywhere are attacking the academy. Teachers are already defeated. There is blood everywhere. Help or we are all going to die!"

Hearing this Unohana reached out to this panic stricken student, grabbing his arm to prevent him running away from her and trying to calm him down at the same time. He however, yelped in pain. Taking a closer look at him, the healer saw that his robes had been cut several times and it looked like he had matching bleeding wounds to these cuts on his skin. He needed immediate medical attention. Looking around the taicho's gaze fell on Isane, who had followed the screams and was now standing right in front of them.

"Isane, please take care of this man, while I contact the other squads and find out, what exactly is going on. As soon as you are done, please join me."

The fuku-taicho brought the slightly confused shinigami into the next treatment room and took care of his rather deep cuts and bruises. Meanwhile Unohana headed to the academy with several of her officers in tow to get a clearer picture of the situation at hand. On her way there a hell butterfly was crossing her way, transmitting its message and filling her in on the situation. Five dozens of hollows and 15 menos grande had suddenly appeared near the academy grounds and had started to wreak havoc.

Arriving at the academy Unohana took a moment to observe the whole situation. So far shinigami from squads eleven, ten, seven, six and thirteen had come to assist the academy staff in their attempt to regain control of the situation again. The five taichos were fighting with the menos grande while the lower ranks were trying to decrease the numbers of hollows. So far they had not been able to achieve much and Unohana could see several teachers, lots of students and shinigami being injured. Some of them couldn't even continue to fight and were laying on the ground, unable to get out of harm's way.

"Alright, seated officers of rang 10 and higher set up a first treatment place with ten shinigami to assist you over there by the woods. Lower officers start to rescue the injured out of the danger zone with the rest of the squad. Send the fuku-taicho to me as soon as she arrives. I will see to the other taichos' wounds while they remain in battle. Proceed."

As soon as these words were spoken everyone got busy following their respective duties. Unohana had to stop several severe bleedings that would otherwise have been fatal in the long run but apart from that the taichos were fairly able to stay alive and unharmed during battle. So Unohana Retsu began to help protecting and healing the injured shinigami on the ground by placing them into Minazuki's mouth and flying them to the now builded treatment place. She had just finished her first round when Isane arrived with the rest of her squad.

"Unohana-taicho!"

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, please assist me in rescuing the severely injured from the battle field. The other shinigami ought to help at the treatment site. There are already four times more injured than healers and no end in sight yet."

Calling forth Itegumo's Shikai, Isane jumped on Minazuki's back, ready to fight any- and everything that dared to come close to her taicho and her patients. Though the situation was really dreadful, Isane couldn't help but feel a spark of joy being right beside her beloved taicho-sama and doing what she could best.

The fight had been going on for two hours now. And to the amazement of all involved shinigami the numbers of the hollows had not decreased but grown, even though the taichos had released their bankais.

"Where the hell are they all coming from? There must be a big breach somewhere, through which they can easily enter our realm", Isane heard the ten's division taicho cursing while he fought another menos grande.

"I think so too, Hitsugaya-taicho. The twelfth squad is already searching for such a breach. I am sure they will find it soon and close it off", Isane responded while healing another wound on the young man's arm.

"What is that?" They suddenly heard a fearful cry behind them and both turned around. What they saw made their eyes widen in shock. Right in front of them appeared another spatial rift and another hollow with the size of a menos grande appeared. It was, however, not a menos. It looked rather like a giant kraken with about ten meters long tentacles armed with hundreds of pores and needle sharp spikes.

This creature was the most ugliest thing they had ever seen. They had however not much time to dwell on that thought, because it suddenly released a gassy green substance out of its pores. "Of course it cannot only impale but also spread poison", Isane thought as she saw several shinigami who had been near that creature suddenly fall unconscious.

"Fuku-taicho, Hyorinmaru and I will contain this gas while you take these men out of danger."

And with these words the young taicho was already on his way before Isane even had the slightest chance of responding. At first the plan seemed to work out, because Hitsugaya was able to draw the creatures attention on himself. But suddenly it changed its mind and aimed its tentacles towards Isane.

"Isane, watch out!"

Isane tried to react but saw that it was already too late. She could already see herself getting pierced through by one of the spikes when suddenly the tenth's devision haori blocked her sight. Within the last second Hitsugaya Toshiro had blocked the attack by literally jumping between the tentacle and Isane and slashing the creature's face with one stroke into two halves.

The fuku-taicho sighed in relieve at the sight of the dead hollow and was about to thank Hitsugaya when she heard him say:

"Damn, these spikes seems to be poisonous as wel..."

"Taicho, taicho! Isane cried out while turning the lifeless taicho around. What she saw made her own blood freeze in shock. His whole chest was covered with deep holes which had the exact same shape as the spikes. Several organs and arteries must have been hit as well, because his robes were drained in blood and Isane could feel with her hands how more of the warm liquid left his body. Concentrating some reiatsu in her hands to diagnose the precise damage she unfortunately realized that his last words were true as well. And the venom was spreading fast. If nothing was done right now he would surely die. Taking one more look around Isane saw Unohana approaching on Minazuki while the fight continued everywhere else around her.

So this was it. Exactly for such situations the instant healing kido spell must have been created. Isane concentrated all her reiatsu in her hands, manipulated it to match the young taicho's laying in front of her and started to speak out loudly the incantation:

"From fire to ice, from water to air, from heaven to earth and from life to death. I call forth the power of eternity: kido 113 - Phoenix of Hell."

"Isane, no!" came a yell from behind.

As always the kido spell worked. The wounds on Hitsugaya's body had all vanished and he had regained consciousness. He looked first up into Isane's face and then saw Unohana-taicho approaching with high speed. He was just about to ask what happened when the fuku-taicho started to feel dizzy and to sway until she lost her balance and fell right beside him on the ground.

Right that moment Unohana had finally reached them.

"Isane! Isane! Stay with me!"

Hitsugaya Toshiro was very surprised to hear Unohana literally pleading. He had never seen her so worried before - never once. As far as he could remember Unoahana had always been calm and composed. Right now she looked like her personal hell had appeared in front of her and she was suffering infinite pain.

"Unohana-taicho, what happend?"

Taking her eyes from her fuku-taicho, Unohana looked at the tenth squad leader.

"I do not have time right now to explain. Please get one of my squad here right now. Otherwise Isane will be lost forever", Unohana responded with a shaking voice.

Isane meanwhile couldn't say anything anymore. She slowly felt how darkness engulfed her. Yes, she felt her taicho was right beside her, but she seemed upset. Why? What happened? The last image she could see was her taicho's face drawn with worry, concern and pain. Had she been the cause for that? Isane wanted to help her, wanted to move and do anything to bring back that smile. But she couldn't move, nor could she speak. Why not? What happened? Everything just went black.


	16. Hiding

16. Hiding

"Unohana-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho told me to come here while he would keep the hollows in check that might want to attack here. What can I do for ... What happened to Kotetsu-fuku-taicho? She looks like she is dead!"

"She is not dead yet Hanataro-kun. And you are going to help me, to keep it that way", Unohana responded briskly.

"Hanataro-kun, do you have any energy pills on you?"

"Hai, taicho. I thought they might come in useful in case the fight prolongs itself."

"I need two of them. One I will take right now, the other I am going to need as soon as Kotetsu Isane awakes again. Do you understand me?"

"Hai, Unohana-taicho. Here is the first one."

Unohana took the offered pill and swallowed it as fast as possible. Leave it to Hanataro Yamada to have the strongest energy pills in his pockets. The effect took place immediately. Unohana felt her body filled to the brim with her reiatsu. She then focused on Isane, searching for the small left trace of her reiatsu. It was faint and almost gone, but of course the best healer in Seireitei found it. She concentrated her own reitsu in her hands and manipulated it to match Isane's.

"From fire to ice, from water to air, from heaven to earth and from life to death. I call forth the power of eternity: kido 113 - Phoenix of Hell."

Hanataro Yamada had never heard such a strange incantation before. And certainly not one with a number above 100. As soon as his taicho had finished the spell, he saw how both his taicho and fuku-taicho were suddenly engulfed in a strangely crimson lit aura. But as fast as the light had come as fast it was gone again. And what he saw now made his heart jump in joy.

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, you are awake. I am so glad. You looked like you were dead."

"What happened?" a very confused but otherwise splendid feeling Isane asked.

"I do not know. Unohana-taicho just used a very strange kido spell. Something about a phoenix of hell and then..."

"What?"

Isane turned her face into the other direction and sure enough right beside her was Unohana Retsu, pale as a ghost, panting and sweating like she had been running for days with a fever and swaying slightly as if to pass out any moment.

"Hanataro-kun, the second pill if you please", she barely managed to say.

Hanataro Yamada gave it to her as ordered. The taicho took it, before Isane could say or do anything. Unohana felt better immediately. Not good - her energy had been almost completely depleted, but the pill took away the feeling of dying any moment. And that was all that mattered right now. Unohana Retsu took another moment to close her eyes and assess her own condition. She was very tired and had a fever as well as a headache. Normally, she would send anyone with such symptoms straight to bed and keep him there for at least a week. Right now however, it was she herself who suffered of these symptoms and there was a severe fight going on with many casualties. She had no time to call in sick.

"Now Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, you and Hanataro Yamada will return to the treatment side and do whatever you can to help the injured there. I will continue to aid the other taichos in their fights."

"Unohana-taicho, you cannot ...", Isane tried to interrupt but Unohana simply raised one hand to make her quiet and listen.

"However, before you leave, you will promise me to never use that kido again, Isane."

Looking into the determined and strict face of Unohana Retsu, Isane suddenly felt very foolish, guilty and most of all scared. Her taicho was not only angry but mad at her. The only reason Unohana did not let her feel that anger right away was the circumstance of all healers being needed right now. So she gulped down very hard, lowered her head and said in the most humble voice: "Hai, taicho-sama. I promise I will never use that kido spell again."

"Good. Now, we have work to do. Go!" Unohana ordered with as much authority as her current state allowed her to muster before jumping on Minazuki and returning to the other taichos.

The fighting continued for another hour until the members of squad twelve arrived, telling everyone that they had found a way to seal the constantly new forming breaches for good and that everyone was required to leave the fighting sight instantly. When asked why, they only responded citing Kurotsuchi-taicho's original words: "If we activate this device, every single particle will melt for 10 seconds before reforming itself. Aside from being most likely painful and deadly there shouldn't be any side effects. So, everyone who would like to stay is very welcome as I ran out of test subjects yesterday."

These words were enough for everyone to leave the place as fast as possible. Everyone knew, the only reason why they had gotten that warning was due to a complaint about to many deaths and a subsequent order to Kurotsuchi Mayuri to prevent "deathly trials" as much as possible.

Being as efficient as ever the shinigami of squad four had cleared the area within 30 minutes, their patients either being carried on stretchers to the medical facilities or transported and partly healed within Minazuki's mouth. From an outside view it looked like the taicho and fuku-taicho coordinated everything and worked flawlessly together without the need to even talk to each other. In truth Isane was avoiding to face Unohana at all costs.

Not because the feared the punishment or her taicho's anger. She deserved that - no doubt about it. No, she avoided her because she felt so bad and ashamed, because of what she had done. She had learned a kido spell. That in itself was not bad, but she had constantly been lying because of it over the past month. Then she had used it without knowing everything about it or taking some further precautions for possible harmful side effects , which resulted in almost losing her own life. And to top it all, her beloved taicho-sama was now literally sick, because she had saved her.

It came to no surprise that Unohana did know that particular kido spell. Thinking about it, who had Isane tried to fool with the notion that there could be such a potent kido spell that Unohana would not know about?

The only thing that kept Isane from hiding in her own quarters and banging her head against the next wall until sweet darkness would take her, were the many patients that needed her right now as well as the shinigami of squad four who needed some guidance. Unohana herself was working tirelessly on the severely injured, even though everyone could see by now that the main healer was very sick herself.

Several of her faithful subordinates had tried to point that out to her and that she should better take a break, but Unohana did not want to hear any of it. Every time she sensed that someone tried to relieve her of her work, she would smile them out of the room. And thus after another hour, everyone had given up to convince her of some needed rest. Instead they all tried to work as fast as possible around her in the hope, that the injuries would heal faster that way and she herself could take a break then.

When evening came, all shinigami and taichos who fought at the academy were healed as much as possible and either send to their respective squads or to bed within squad four. Unohana took a look at the clock hanging in main treatment room one - it read 8.30 pm. She sighed deeply, feeling utterly drained and exhausted. She knew, her fever must have gone up over the past hours. All she wanted to do now was to get into her own bed and sleep. But before she could do so, she had to check with her fuku-taicho, if everything was alright within the squad and with her subordinates.

Entering the main hall, she met Hanataro Yamada, who was busy cleaning the floors. He looked very energetic and Unohana suspected he had taken an energy pill recently. Approaching him, she addressed him with her usual calm and polite voice:

"Hanataro-kun, do you happen to know where my fuku-taicho has gone to?"

"Well...", Hanataro suddenly looked very nervous, like he was unsure how to proceed.

"Seventh seat Hanataro Yamada, do you know where Kotetsu Isane fuku-taicho is right now?" she asked again, this time with a plain scary smile on her face.

"Sh.., she has asked me to tell you that all of today's administrative work has been done, all shinigami of this squad got their respective working schedules and all the patients within the medical facility have been taken care of. Then the fuku-taicho gave orders not to disturb you under any circumstances unless another taicho was demanding to see you. After that she had returned to her office and no one has seen her since then."

"I see. Thank you."

With these new information in mind, Unohana went to her quarters. Obviously her fuku-taicho had decided to go into hiding for now and not to talk about the incident yet. The taicho decided not to press the matter tonight. After all, she was far from feeling good and maybe both of them would feel more in the mood of talking about it tomorrow. And with this thought in mind, Unohana finally got into bed and let exhaustion and sleep overwhelm her. Yes, tomorrow she would have a very long and serious conversation with her Isane, she would make sure of that.


	17. Isane's worries

17. Isane's worries

Kotetsu Isane awoke the next morning with pains in her lower back and shoulders. This came to no surprise given that she had slept in her office sprawled over her desk. She did not have the motivation to go home after giving the order of letting Unohana-taicho rest. Instead she had started to work on the casualties report of yesterdays attack - over 200 injuries were reported, the academy buildings were in complete shambles and that did not even include the damage the sealing technique of squad twelve caused. It was so much work, that the fuku-taicho had not been able to finish the paper work before sleep claimed her.

Isane was grateful to have fallen asleep at all after occupying her mind for a couple of hours with work. After all, the only other things she could think of right now were her guilt and shame. What had she been thinking and why did she not confide into Unohana-sama sooner? Now the damage was done and she would have to face the consequences. If only she would know, what they would be. No matter what her taicho would decide, Isane knew she deserved it. Actually, she thought what she had done was unforgiveable. So any form of disciplinary action would be kind of a relieve, because it meant at some point in the future Isane could amend for her actions and be forgiven. Forgiven for hurting and risking the life of Unohana Retsu.

The fuku-taicho knew that continuing to hide from her taicho was not an option today. If she wanted things to return back to normal - and she wanted that as soon as possible - and in order not to arouse Unohana's anger even further she had to face and talk to her today. But first she wanted to finish the reports and have them send to the first squad, so nothing would distract her attention when talking to her taicho-sama.

It was 10.30 in the morning when Isane finally put the last piece of paper on the stack with the finished reports. Outside her office she could hear her fellow shinigami working as usual. Well, here at last was something the fuku-taicho and taicho would not have to worry about for a while: the working performance of squad four was excellent and she, Kotetsu Isane, would make sure that it would stay this way. Unless Unohana-taicho decided to dismiss her from her squad or ordered her to work forever at the academy as soon as it would reopen again when the repairs were finished.

Looking now at her clean desk and finding no more excuses to avoid the inevitable, Isane took a very deep breath, trying to summon as much strength and bravery in it as possible, and left her office. Right outside she met Hanataro Yamada, seemingly busy with refilling the medical supplies in all treatment rooms.

"Good morning Hanataro-kun."

"Oh. Good morning fuku-taicho," he greeted back while bowing to his superior.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Kotetsu-fuku-taicho?"

"Not exactly. I have to talk to Unohana-taicho-sama. Do you know where she is?"

At these words, a deep frown appeared on Yamada's face. Something, Isane noticed and caused her to get a bad feeling of foreboding.

"What is it, Hanataro-kun?"

"Well, as far as I believe, Unohana-taicho did not come to work today. She neither has left us a message about her whereabouts. Until now I thought, you knew where she is and that everything was coordinated with you, because yesterday evening she had asked for you. I thought you had talked to each other last evening."

Isane suddenly felt very sick to her stomach. No, they hadn't talked, because Isane had been too busy hiding her sorry self inside her office, in spite of knowing that Unohana wanted to talk to her and even though she knew that her taicho must have felt sick due to the side effects of the instant healing kido.

"No, we did not talk yesterday evening, but I will go to her now. I believe, everyone knows what his respective task is today. If there are any problems, please refer them to third seat Iemura Yasochika-san."

"Hai fuku-taicho."

It was now almost eleven o'clock and Unohana-taicho had nowhere been seen inside her squad's facilities. Where could she be at such a time? Did something happen to her or, even worse, was she too sick to come to work because of what Isane had done? With these thoughts in mind, the fuku-taicho concentrated on finding her taicho's reiatsu signature. Sure enough she found it inside Unohana's quarters, so Isane walked over there worrying sick what might be expecting her there.

"Unohana-taicho? Taicho-sama? Are you alright? Unohana-taicho, please answer the door?" Isane yelled while almost breaking the door to her superior's quarters through her forceful banging at the front door. Despite her efforts there was no answer. It drove Isane close to madness, knowing that her taicho-sama was inside but not responding. In a desperate attempt to allow herself entry, she grabbed the door handle, hoping against hope that she could get in. To her surprise she found the door unlocked and entered.

Ignoring the fact of being in her taicho's quarters for the first time, Isane did not take in the scene around her - the clean but comfortable large rooms with only a few pieces of furniture to make life easier. No, her eyes were searching for the owner of these rooms. Stepping through the living room into the bed room, the fuku-taicho's heart sank at the sight before here. Shivering and shaking in bed lay Unohana Retsu, her eyes closed and unaware of the things going on around her.

The fuku-taicho was at her side in an instant. Raising her hand to Unohana's forehead, Isane could feel the heat that radiated from her body.

"Of course, she is burning up. I was sick for several days after only healing some minor injuries. Unohana brought me back into life and then continued to work and healed the others during the fight. How could I have been so stupid to think that she would be alright after these hardships with only a couple of hours sleep?" Isane berated herself.

Remembering the care Unohana had given her when Isane had been sick last, the fuku-taicho left her side for a moment to retrieve a bowl of water, some cloths, towels, some additional clothing and two cups of tea. Isane was determined to help her taicho through this the best she could and right now that meant remaining at her side and helping her through that darn fever.

"Unohana-taicho? Taicho-sama. Please wake up for a moment."

Unohana Retsu stirred at these softly spoken words and slowly opened her eyes. Getting back her orientation and remembering yesterday's events she was surprised to find her fuku-taicho sitting beside her bed inside her quarters.

"Isane, what are you doing here?" was the first question that came to mind, while she tried to sit up.

"Please taicho, you mustn't get up. You are very ill, so please lie down", was the immediate response while Isane gently pushed her taicho's shoulders back down towards the bed.

"I was very worried that you did not come to work today and nobody knew where you have been. So I started looking for you and found you here. Your door wasn't locked."

"I must have been too tired to close it properly."

"Hai taicho-sama. I am very sorry for what has happened and I..."

"Isane. I know that we have to talk about it and we will. I promise you. But right now, I am afraid my condition does not allow me to have such a conversation at the moment. The after effects of the kido spell and the energy pills I took seem to be stronger than I anticipated yesterday. All I want to do right now is sleeping. Please return to the squad and see that everything is in order. I will be fine as soon as I got some more rest."

"No taicho, I will not leave you here alone in this condition. Frankly, I think it would be best to get you back to squad four, where we could better monitor your condition."

"Isane, all I need is some rest and I certainly do not want to be moved over to single bed room, where all I would do is sleep as well", came the tired but rational response.

"Alright, I will let you stay here. However, I am not going away. I will take care of you until you are back on your feet."

"Isane..."

"No, taicho-sama. It is my fault you are sick right now, so it is my job to make you better. I left third seat Iemura in charge and finished already all paperwork, so there shouldn't be any problems. Now, I agree you need to sleep some more, but before that we have to get you out of these soaked clothing and some fluids into you. Alright?"

Feeling too tired and weak to argue with her fuku-taicho Unohana slowly nodded her head in a positive response. Seeing this, Isane felt a little relieved - at least something was working out - and she started to help her taicho out of her soaked nightwear into a fresh one. The fuku-taicho then coaxed Unohana Retsu into drinking some tea before she tucked her neatly back into bed and put a cold cloth on the taicho's still burning forehead.

Unohana Retsu fell back asleep very fast and Isane used that time to shortly return to squad four. There she informed the squad of their taicho being sick and gave out the order that the third seat would be in charge of everything for the time being until she and Unohana-taicho would return. No one questioned the fuku-taicho's order. A lot of the shinigami had seen Unohana's condition last night and the others had a least heard about it. So this came as no surprise and everyone resumed their work while Isane returned to Unohana's side.

It took another eight days until Unohana's fever had finally gone for good and she felt strong enough to address her fuku-taicho's misbehavior.

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho."

"Hai Unohana-taicho?"

"I think we can agree that I am not sick anymore thanks to your care."

"Maybe taicho, though I think you should still take it easy", Isane said while bringing two steaming mugs of tea into the bed room and handing one to Unohana.

The older woman couldn't help but raise a skeptical eyebrow at her fuku-taicho: "Said the woman, who stayed with me for the past eight days without sleeping or taking care of herself. Fuku-taicho, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Because if you did, you would have noticed that your face is pale and fallen in and that you have huge dark rings surrounding your eyes."

"I am alright, taicho-sama. It is you I am worried about."

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho. I thought I told you many times before that I do not appreciate it when people lie to me. Yes, I have been sick for the past couple of days, but I am much better now. You, on the other hand, are not fine. Your face is drawn with worry and you are exhausted. Now, I will get up and prepare a futon for you and you will get some sleep and do as I say. Is that understood?"

Oh how Isane had missed that kind but stern voice with the scary smile in addition to it. Even though it normally scared her to be on the receiving end of such a lecture, nothing made Isane more happy right now. Her taicho was clearly feeling better and no permanent had been done due to her selfish actions. So all Isane did in response was to bow deeply to her taicho-sama and then settled down on the bed Unohana had prepared for her.

"Rest my dear Isane. We will talk about everything tomorrow." Unohana ordered while tucking Isane in and watching her fall asleep.


	18. The lost Temple

18. The lost Temple

Sneezing, Kotetsu Isane awoke in an unfamiliar bed. A ray of light had been tickling her nose.

"Oh, good morning fuku-taicho. I hope you did not catch another cold", came a very familiar voice from the other end of the room.

"Good morning, Unohana-taicho. No, it was just the sun. How long have I been asleep?"

"You slept through the whole night for the past 12 hours, Isane. You really needed the rest", Unohana responded kindly while taking a seat right beside Isane on the futon and taking a thorough look at her.

"You really have to take better care of yourself, fuku-taicho. Who else is going to assist me otherwise?" the taicho scolded slightly.

"Unohana-sama, I am fine. And I do take care of myself."

"I see. And because you can take such good care of yourself, you neglected to sleep for over a week and before that almost killed yourself by using a forbidden kido while in order to learn that, you got sick several times over the past months and lied to me about your true health condition several times. Have I left out anything in your favor, my dear fuku-taicho?"

Was it just Isane's hurt pride or was her taicho really mocking her right now? Aside from that, it sounded so much worse what Isane had done over the past months, hearing it in such a wrapped up fashion. Then again, Unohana Retsu should be shouting at her, give her a severe punishment or several while she is at it, and not be sitting beside her on a bed, being kind and patient as ever towards her. These thoughts made Isane blush deeply and right now, she wished a hole would turn up in which she could hide along with her shame.

Being concerned about the sudden color change in her fuku-taicho's face, Unohana lifted Isane's chin with one hand to look straight into her face while using the other to feel her forehead.

"Hm, you don't seem to have a fever right now. Still, maybe I should examine you just to make sure, you are not coming down with something new", Unohana voiced her concern.

"No, taicho-sama!" Isane was close to yelling while jumping out of her taicho's reach and the bed.

"I am fine. Really. Trust me."

"I shall trust you? Now, why would I do that, Kotetsu-fuku-taicho? As I just said, you were not particularly honest with me in matters of your own health lately", Unohana retorted with a very dangerous smile on her face.

Isane gulped very hard, realizing that the time of her punishment was near and there would be no easy way out of this situation. If she wasn't careful, she would make the situation even worse for herself. Shaking her head as if to get rid of these scaring thoughts, the fuku-taicho tried to regain some self-control, kneeled down and lowered her face to the ground.

"Unohana-taicho. I apologize for what I have done. I swear, it was never my attention to hurt anyone, least you. I am very sorry about what had happened."

While saying these words, the fuku-taicho remaind in this humbled position. She did not dare to look her beloved taicho-sama into the face. If she did, she felt she would die out of embarrassment and guilt.

"So, what you are saying is, that you regret that I got sick, but not the fact that you did not tell the truth. Neither about your research or your health?", Unohana asked with a danger in her voice, Isane had never heard before.

"Of course..., of course I regret that too! It was never my intention to lie to you. Really."

"Then why did you do it? Why all this secrecy, Isane?"

"Because..."

"Yes?"

"Because I wanted to be of better help to you, Unohana-taicho. And I wanted you to be proud of me."

Finally the inner dam was broken and Isane started to reveal the whole story. How she began to feel useless to her taicho and her decision to become a better healer. What she had discovered in the library and how she had started to practice her new skills without anyone realizing it. And about her reluctance to tell Unohana about it before having achieved anything.

Hearing Isane's story the pieces finally fell into place: Isane's strange behavior, her untruthfulness, her constant sleeplessness. In fact, the whole story reminded Unohana of another young shinigami she once had known - herself. Feeling now a tremendous relieve that she had not lost her fuku-taicho's respect and trust Unohana got down beside her fuku-taicho and lifted Isane's head so that they could look into each other's eyes.

"Isane, please come with me. There is something I need to show you", she said smiling kindly at the younger shinigami.

Isane was now at a complete loss. Wasn't she going to be punished? She had to tell her story and that was it? Unohana must have seen the puzzled look on her face because she elaborated:

"Isane, due to your actions you got sick several times up to the point of almost losing your life. In addition to that you made a lot of people worry sick about you. Now tell me with that kind and loving heart of yours, how could I punish you in a more severe way than your conscience is already punishing you?"

Isane couldn't find an answer to that. It fact she was dumbstruck by these true words. She did feel bad: not so much because she had risked her own life, but because she had made Unohana worry about her and got her seriously sick. Of course she wouldn't tell her taicho about that particular thought right now. She feared, she would be in even more trouble then. Unohana on the other hand did not need to hear Isane speak these words: she knew very well what was going on in her fuku-taicho's head.

Isane always had a habit of putting the wellbeing of other people first, no matter what the risks would be for herself. That was the reason, she become such an excellent healer. However, now Unohana felt the need of setting Isane's priorities straight or otherwise she would really lose her beloved fuku-taicho some day. Smiling serenely and calmly at her again, the older woman put a hand on her fuku-taicho's back, thus leading her out of the room and her quarters.

"Please Isane, follow me."

Isane had no idea, where the two of them were going. As soon as they had left the house, both had used shunpo to leave the city. That had been an hour ago and now they were moving across an ancient looking wood. Suddenly Unohana's steps returned to normal speed and so did Isane's.

"Taicho-sama, may I ask where we are, or better, where we are going to?"

"We are going to the place where I had first learned about healing kido Isane."

"You learned here in these woods something about healing?"

This piece of information confused Isane slightly. How was it possible that Unohana-taicho had learned something about healing here, at this forgotten place? There was simply nothing the eye could see that could provide some learning material basis. Not that she would put it passed Unohana's abilities to always learn something, no matter where she was. But still, these old trees looked as interesting as the pebble stones right outside of squad four, and Isane had never found anything interesting to learn from them either.

"Not exactly here. But right behind those trees over there is an old temple where I used to study for a while."

Ah, now that made more sense. However, it did not answer Isane's question why her taicho was bringing her to this old place. They walked for another ten minutes until they reached the wood's border and stepped out into the bright sunlight again. The sight in front of them let Isane gasp for her breath.

"Taicho-sama, what has happened here?"

Isana had expected to see an old but beautiful temple, shinigami walking around or sitting on benches studying old scripts and books. Instead she was standing in front of huge ruins, scorch marks everywhere. The single pieces of walls still standing looked like breaking apart any moment. It was a devastating view.

"This Isane was the temple of Kurondai, a place for priests and scientists alike who dedicated their life to research the secrets of life."

"Why was it burned down?"

"Because the desire to manipulate life and death overwhelmed some of the men and women living here and thus it was decided to eradicate this place as a warning for future shinigamis never to attempt such a thing again. I wanted to show you something else beside the former main entrance - please come with me to the back of the old temple grounds."

It turned out that the temple grounds were massive in size. The two of them walked in silence for another 20 minutes until Unohana signaled the reaching of their goal. Right in front of them stood several tomb stones.

"Unohana-taicho, are these graves? Who is buried here?"

Isane could not make heads nor tail out of what she saw standing right in front of her. Shinigami do not bury their dead. When a shinigami dies - usually in battle - their soul would return to earth, where they would live another life and create new memories, while their bodies would simply disappear. Thus shinigami did not have a tradition of burying each other, though they grieved for their lost friends and sometimes built some kind of memorial for them.

"Inside these graves rest the bodies of the ten shinigami who died developing kido 113 - Phoenix of Hell."

"I do not understand. How can their bodies be buried here, if they are dead?"

"Fuku-taicho, have you figured out by now, how this particular kido spell works?"

"Well of course", Isane answered a little abashed. "At first, the healer has to transform his own reiatsu to match the patient's one. After that the healer is able to heal any wounds instantly and perfectly."

"Yes, but that is only half the truth", Unohana answered with a notch of sadness in her voice.

"Isane, do you remember your lessons at the academy, in which they taught you that for healing kido spells the reiatsu of a healer could never be as strong as the reiatsu of the patient himself and thus the healer always needs more of this energy than the wound would otherwise require?"

"Yes, Unohana-taicho. I remember that. The teachers said it had something to do with the body needing to transform the healing reiatsu so that it could work properly. But I still do not understand. Using this kido spell, I transformed my reiatsu so that it matched my patients'."

"Indeed you did. However, no matter how far you have accomplished this skill, your reiatsu would still never be 100 percent perfectly the same, because your soul is not the same. So, you still need to use more reiatsu to heal someone else's injuries than the wounded would have to spend healing himself. Apart from that, did you notice anything strange after having used this kido spell?"

"Let me think about it. Well, I found it strange that some of my patients thought I had healed them on parts I did not even examine and certainly did not treat."

"In truth you did Isane. By transforming your own energy you allowed your reiatsu to spread through your patient's entire body. And wherever something was amiss, it would heal. Now, this may sound great at first, but think about it. Your reiatsu is used to heal every tiny wound or injury, using up your energy at a level many times higher than the injury itself requires. And you as a healer have no way of foretelling, how much reiatsu you are actually going to spend performing this kido, because the more you need to transform it to match, the more you are going to spend. That is, why you got sick after healing only some minor injuries. Do you understand now?"

"I think I do, though I still do not know what that has to do with these graves you are showing me here Unohana-taicho."

"These ten shinigami died using Phoenix of Hell, Isane. They died the same way that I almost lost you, because they did not know how this spell exactly worked. Another side effect, the remaining scientists discovered later was, that when a shinigami dies spending his or her entire reiatsu, their soul would not return to the human world but would be lost for all eternity without a chance of ever living a life again."

At these words Isane's eyes widened in shock. She had not realized before how close she had been to lose her life forever. Now finally the message sunk in, why Unohana had made her promise to never use that kido again. However, one question remained:

"Unohana, if that spell is such a great risk, why have I been able to find enough information about it in the public library?"

"Ah, a very good question, my dear fuku-taicho. Am I correct that you only found basic information how the spell was supposed to work but not any specific information about how to manipulate your own reiatsu to match those of others?"

"Hai, taicho-sama. It was very confusing that this particular information was missing. It cost me a great deal of time to figure that part out on my own."

"Under any other circumstance I would compliment you on your achievement, but not in this instance. Before the temple was burned down, it was decided to keep a copy of the here gathered knowledge in the library. However, the scripts and books were modified in a way so that nobody, except those who were personally taught in these techniques, could use them.

To be precise only the head healer of Seireitei is supposed to know how to use this kido spell and of course my successor as soon as I would decide to have one. It never occured to me or our superiors for that matter, that a single shinigami could figure out the workings of this techniques through sheer stubbornness and hard work."

Isane could not help but blush at these words again. Now she finally understood, what she had actually done and why it had been so difficult to reach that goal. She was never supposed to get this far. Falling down on her knees, Isane started to apologize again, something she felt she would be doing for a long time coming.

"I am so sorry taicho-sama. I truly did not realize that I did something that was this dangerous and thus forbidden. I am very sorry."

Unohana leveled herself with her fuku-taicho, smiling warmly and gently at Isane.

"I know Isane. And I believe and forgive you. Now, I want you to promise me two more things. First of all, you must never talk with anyone beside me about what you have learned here today nor about the kido spell at all. You already promised me to never use it again, but you have to understand that no one is supposed to know about it at all besides me."

"Hai, Unohana-taicho. I promise."

"Second, and you better not forget this Isane, you have to swear to me, that you will never lie to me again, in particular when your own health is concerned. I want you to come straight to me, if you feel that something is off. Even if you have the feeling that it is something minor and does not deserve or require my attention. Is that understood?"

"Taicho-sama, that is not necess..."

And suddenly Isane found herself pressed down with her face on the ground again. Unohana-taicho had released a part of her own powerful reiatsu, signaling that there was no room for arguments here.

"Isane, I will not repeat myself. I want you to let me take care of you whenever you get sick and not only when you are close to losing your life. You are way too important for me to have you risk your own health in such a foolish way. Now, will you obey my orders?"

That of course was a rather rhetorical question as Isane could hardly say no in such a situation. The fuku-taicho managed to nod her head signaling her obedience and slowly she felt the pressure go away.

"I swear, I will never lie to you about my health condition and that I will seek your help whenever I feel getting sick", came the very quiet voice from the ground.

"Unohana-taicho, I still do not understand. Why had you made me swear that? I am not such an important shinigami, I am not even a taicho", Isane pleaded, confusion plainly showing on her face.

Unohana couldn't help but sigh deeply hearing this nonsense.

"Kotetsu Isane, you are my fuku-taicho. You are the person I rely most upon when there is a health crisis in Seireitei. Over the years we have worked together, you have grown to be the most stable factor in my life and work. Don't you see that I depend on your well-being as everyone else is depending on my skills to heal them?

That is why you are so important to me. And that is why I need to trust you to tell me the truth. Always. I know that I am only your taicho and sometimes your mentor, but you should know by now that you can always come to me and confide in me - not only when you hunted by nightmares or when you have trouble with your fellow shinigamis, but anytime you need someone to talk to."

At first Isane could not believe what she was hearing. She was important to Unohana-sama, her taicho? But it must have been true, because no matter how hard she looked, she could not find any opposing evidence in Unohana's eyes or face. Yes, she was the supporting pillar for her taicho. And she swore to herself, that this is, what she always wanted to be. And she would continue to improve her healing skills to be of even greater help and support. Just, from now on she would be working with her taicho together and not against her.

"Let's go home Isane. I think squad four had to hold out long enough without its taicho and fuku-taicho", Unohana said smiling kindly while slowly starting to walk back to Seireitei.

"Hai, Unohana-taicho", Isane responded with a genuine smile on her face, she did not have before in a very long time.

THE END


End file.
